President Obama looks to mimic EC cyber strategy

US president Barack Obama is set to issue an executive order designed to bolster the nation's cyber security just days after the European Commission revealed its cyber strategy, according to reports.

Bloomberg reported that two unnamed sources in the White House confirmed the order is set to be released after Obama's State of the Union address, scheduled for 12 February.

The order will reportedly implement a raft of measures similar to those seen in the EC's cyber strategy.

These include the creation of a voluntary programme of cyber security standards for companies operating connected to critical infrastructure areas, like utilities, power and healthcare.

The order will also urge federal agencies to incorporate the cyber security standards into existing regulations and directs the government to share more information about computer threats with the private sector.

At the time of publishing the White House and US London Embassy had not responded to V3's request for comment on the proposed measures.

The news comes one day after the EC announced its new cyber strategy. The strategy has similar goals to the unconfirmed US directive, but applies more robust data sharing and attack disclosure policies.

Like the US, the EC's plans are designed to cover organisations involved in running critical national infrastructure,

The EC cyber security strategy and directive on network and information security will force businesses to report all "major security incidents".

However, unlike the US, the EC defines information society services as, "app stores e-commerce platforms, internet payment, cloud computing, search engines, social networks" as being part of critical infrastructure.

The wider definition means that a number of US companies including, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft Amazon and Twitter will have to report breaches publicly, which could cause major security and trust concerns among consumers.