Trump signs long-delayed executive order for full-review of US cybersecurity

In a bid to up the country's defences against cyber attacks from inside and outside, President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a long-delayed executive order for an extensive review of the l.

The order that was meant to be signed back in January has been postponed for unknown reasons but has finally been commissioned. The review aims at finding loopholes in the current practices that have been targeted by hackers and criminals.

“The trend is going in the wrong direction in cyberspace, and it’s time to stop that trend and reverse it on behalf of the American people," White House Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert told reporters during a Thursday afternoon briefing.

Besides asking to closely review the government spending on computers and technologies, the order also instructs govt officials to work alongside tech and telecom giants and other companies to figure out ways to “improve the resilience of the internet and communications ecosystem,” particularly to guard against botnets and denial-of-service attacks.

The order also commissions a survey to determine the feasibility of transitioning the government's ageing individual IT systems into shared services and networks. As Politico points out, 80 percent of the $80 million federal IT budget goes toward maintaining legacy setups.

Notably, there won't be any immediate changes to the government's approach to cybersecurity or offensive capabilities and the report is expected to be submitted by next year.

The executive order comes months after Trump promised to craft a cybersecurity strategy 90 days after taking office which obviously didn't happen.

US government has been working on its cyber defences for quite some time. Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama too undertook many steps in the direction over his two terms including improving the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure, like power plants and water pumps, from potential attacks.