[co-author: Evan Sarnor]
On January 17, 2025, days before the inauguration, former President Joe Biden issued an executive order titled Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation's Cybersecurity (EO 14144). Building on previous efforts, including Executive Order 14028, this directive seeks to bolster cybersecurity across federal systems, supply chains and critical infrastructure from adversarial nations, particularly from the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Key measures include mandatory secure software attestations, enhanced identity and access management using phishing-resistant technologies and transitioning to post-quantum cryptographic standards. Additionally, the order prioritizes improving the security of open-source software and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance cyber defense capabilities.
The order leverages the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark, which the FCC created and ultimately adopted in March 2024, and is aimed at increasing transparency and incentivizing secure practices in consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices—and this EO would require vendors to the federal government to receive the mark. The executive order also emphasizes stronger supply chain risk management, data encryption and secure software delivery. Furthermore, it calls for collaborative AI research and implementation to address vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and digital systems.
This Executive Order was not included in President Trump’s initial wave of revocations.
