The latest cybersecurity executive order, issued in June of 2025, aims to streamline past administrations' cybersecurity executive actions and strip mandates seen as overly prescriptive or ideological. It also introduces new guidelines and mandates to strengthen cyber practices within the government and private sector.
Key Updates to Historical Guidance
The order updates sanctioning policies from the Obama administration that allow the government to financially punish people involved in hacking activities that harm U.S. national security. This latest order "limits the application of cyber sanctions only to foreign malicious actors" to prevent the "misuse against domestic political opponents."
Cyber guidance issued in the waning days of the Biden administration encouraged government agencies to ramp up use of digital ID technologies. The latest EO strikes this mandate based on the belief that digital ID could lead to greater fraud and abuse. Continue reading
Ransomware has traditionally been a practice where cybercriminals encrypt data and demand ransom in exchange for a decryption key. More recently, a growing number of these bad actors threaten to make this information public if they do not get paid. This shift in the practice of ransomware has increased the "attractiveness" of K-12 schools for cyber criminals. Information about children is among the most highly protected data there is, making it more likely ransoms will be paid to keep it private. For this and other reasons, K-12 schools are seeing an increase in ransomware activity. In 2021, there were at least 
Recent security breaches via software have made supply chain security a priority across government. No longer is it enough to build security into a solution; now every product that is part of that solution is being examined for its security and risk. In response, the Biden Administration issued a Cybersecurity Executive Order that aims to provide more control over the content of code that comes in contact with government systems and infrastructure.
The use of Internet of Things (IoT) to manage infrastructure and services is not a new concept, but response to the new normal of pandemic life, natural disasters, and the implementation of 5G networks all could accelerate the implementation of IoT solutions.
