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Trump's Cyber Order Calls For More Reports On Federal IT Security

Trump's latest executive order tells federal agencies to review their IT security practices.
Posted at 8:18 PM, May 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-11 20:18:21-04

President Trump's long-awaited executive order on federal cybersecurity is finally here — and it's mostly asking other agencies for more information.

The executive order holds agency heads responsible for managing the cyber risks of their department. It gives them three months to put together reports on the cybersecurity risks their departments face.

One security expert told ZDNet that given that outdated tech is widely in use across the federal government, those reports would "probably be a picture of a guy with his head on fire, and 600 pages of screaming."

The order does have some concrete effects — it mandates all federal agencies use the cybersecurity standards established by the National Institute of Standards And Technology.