The roadmap, Trustworthy Cyberspace: Strategic Plan for the Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Program, identified four R&D “thrusts” for the Obama administration: inducing change, developing scientific foundations, maximizing research impact, and accelerating transition to practice.
“The thrusts provide a framework for prioritizing cybersecurity R&D in a way that concentrates research efforts on limiting current cyberspace deficiencies, precluding future problems, and expediting the infusion of research accomplishments into the marketplace. The principal objectives of the thrusts include achieving greater cyberspace resiliency, improving attack prevention, developing new defenses, and enhancing our capabilities to design software that is resistant to attacks”, the report explained.
Included in the inducing change thrust, the White House has added designed-in security to its previously identified R&D priorities in the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. Designed-in security focuses on designing high-assurance systems resistant to cyberattacks.
“The federal government is in a unique position to leverage its fundamental research resources to address the underlying causes of cybersecurity problems. Using this strategic plan as a roadmap, sustained efforts in these areas will result in a more secure and trustworthy cyberspace”, wrote US Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt in a blog post.