Convergence as a Strategic Security Philosophy

By Luke Bencie and Raquel Ruiz

In 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act into law. The act established the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which had an elevated mission to CISA’s precursor agency, the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), originally established in 2007 as a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The aim of CISA is to lead the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce the risk to America’s cyber and physical infrastructure. It labels itself as “the quarterback for the federal cybersecurity team, protecting and defending the home front,” while at the same time “securing the nation’s critical infrastructure against threats that are just over the horizon.”

To many, it would appear that the government was just doing what government does best - adding an extra layer of bureaucracy to an already established DHS entity. However, the case for CISA is different. CISA demonstrates a phenomenon that is seldom seen in the public sector. By creating a federal organization that brings together both cyber security professionals and physical security professionals, as equal stakeholders, the USG is ahead of the private sector in terms of innovation, disruption, and communication. As such, this joint accountability created not only a new security term – but a new security philosophy – called Convergence.

Convergence is not the next entry into the Mat...