New U.S. National Counterintelligence Strategy includes Focus on Protecting Critical Infrastructure, Working with Whole-of-Society

Earlier this week, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) – a center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) – unveiled the National Counterintelligence Strategy of the United States of America 2020-2022, which discusses foreign intelligence threats to the nation and activities by the federal government, working with the whole-of-society, to address its counterintelligence missions. In a traditional sense, those missions include countering foreign intelligence activities, mitigating insider threats, protecting sensitive and classified information as well as sensitive facilities from technical penetrations or espionage, and countering assassination attempts by foreign intelligence services. The new strategy goes beyond these traditional government-centric missions to focus on critical infrastructure, key supply chains, the economy, democratic institutions, and cyber and technical operations. It is in these areas where the strategy says investments in capabilities and resources are required to strengthen national security. The strategy recognizes the U.S. government cannot address these challenges alone and calls for a whole-of-society approach that fully integrates the assistance of the private sector, an informed public, as well as foreign allies. Read the strategy and accompanying documents at ODNI.