President Biden issued the Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity (“Cyber EO”) on May 12, 2021. The Cyber EO is ambitious in scope and sets aggressive timelines for its implementation. It seeks to both strengthen the cybersecurity of the federal government and push the private sector to further strengthen its approach to cybersecurity. Indeed, the Cyber EO appears designed to have broad impact on the private sector, not just on companies that do business with the government. As a result, companies across the economy will be well-served to understand the Cyber EO and its potential implications for their businesses going forward. In addition, the policies emphasized in the Cyber EO may serve as a roadmap for Congressional cybersecurity legislation that could apply to most, if not all, of the private sector.

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