White House is prioritizing secure internet routing, using memory safe languages | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"National Cyber Director Harry Coker says the Biden administration is focusing on securing foundational technologies.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/harry-coker-oncd-bgp-memory-safe-programming-language\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"White House is prioritizing secure internet routing, using memory safe languages\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"National Cyber Director Harry Coker says the Biden administration is focusing on securing foundational technologies.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/harry-coker-oncd-bgp-memory-safe-programming-language\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" 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js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.03591160221\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"29.008064516129\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/cybersecurity\/\"> <span>Cybersecurity<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> National Cyber Director Harry Coker says the Biden administration is focusing on securing foundational technologies. <\/p>\n<p>   <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"458\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-house-is-prioritizing-secure-internet-routing-using-memory-safe-languages.jpg?resize=640%2C458&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-house-is-prioritizing-secure-internet-routing-using-memory-safe-languages-2.jpg 3667w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-house-is-prioritizing-secure-internet-routing-using-memory-safe-languages-2.jpg?resize=300,215 300w, 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https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-house-is-prioritizing-secure-internet-routing-using-memory-safe-languages-2.jpg?resize=471,337 471w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-house-is-prioritizing-secure-internet-routing-using-memory-safe-languages-2.jpg?resize=944,675 944w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-house-is-prioritizing-secure-internet-routing-using-memory-safe-languages-2.jpg?resize=1179,843 1179w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\"><figcaption> Harry Coker, the White House\u2019s nominee for national cyber director, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Nov. 2, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"25.323574435515\"><body readability=\"51.776567944251\"><\/p>\n<p>National Cyber Directory Harry Coker said that the White House is focused on securing two foundational aspects of the tech landscape: how information packets are routed across the internet and computer programming languages that can be susceptible to memory-related errors.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at a Recorded Future event Wednesday in Washington, D.C., Coker said the White House is looking at next steps to secure <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/fcc-wants-rules-for-most-important-part-of-the-internet-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/\">Border Gateway Protocol<\/a>, or BGP, which directs data through the most efficient internet route via thousands of public and private networks.<\/p>\n<p>The White House wants to advance BGP security through the adoption of security mechanisms known as Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI).The White House last month <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/oncd\/briefing-room\/2024\/09\/03\/press-release-white-house-office-of-the-national-cyber-director-releases-roadmap-to-enhance-internet-routing-security\/\">announced its plans<\/a> to have RPKI in place in more than 60% of the federal government\u2019s advertised IP space by the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve known for decades that the foundation of today\u2019s internet is not secure,\u201d Coker said. \u201cWe have seen instances where internet traffic was to be sent from a location in the domestic U.S. for another location in the domestic U.S. and it made a detour across the Pacific.\u201d <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Coker added the White House is setting up a working group to look at next steps after broader adoption of RPKI.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, the country appears to be lagging some of its counterparts: Coker said Europe has already moved with around 70% of its IP space, while the U.S. is only at around 40%. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an area where the federal government needs to pick up the pace,\u201d Coker said.<\/p>\n<p>Another White House priority has centered on moving toward memory safe programming languages, which can help deter common vulnerabilities that constantly arise in software. <\/p>\n<p>Shifting from languages, like C or C++, to memory-safe ones like Go or Rust, has been a key <a href=\"https:\/\/www.darpa.mil\/news-events\/2024-07-31a\">priority<\/a> of the Biden administration as a way to avoid known bugs. A Microsoft report found that more than <a href=\"https:\/\/msrc.microsoft.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/a-proactive-approach-to-more-secure-code\/\">70%<\/a> of the vulnerabilities they assign a CVE to in a given year is related to memory safety.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe quality of life, again, how we live, work and play, is on this digital foundation that we need to make as secure as possible,\u201d Coker said. \u201cWe need to make as many folks understand that a digital foundation underpins virtually every aspect of our lives today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"1.6012658227848\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"9\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/white-house-is-prioritizing-secure-internet-routing-using-memory-safe-languages-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Christian Vasquez\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Christian Vasquez<\/h4>\n<p> Christian covers industrial cybersecurity for CyberScoop News. He previously wrote for E&E News at POLITICO covering cybersecurity in the energy sector. Reach out: christian.vasquez at cyberscoop dot com <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 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{"id":5692,"date":"2024-10-09T14:48:24","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T19:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=82070"},"modified":"2024-10-09T14:48:24","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T19:48:24","slug":"white-house-is-prioritizing-secure-internet-routing-using-memory-safe-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/10\/09\/white-house-is-prioritizing-secure-internet-routing-using-memory-safe-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"White House is prioritizing secure internet routing, using memory safe languages"},"content":{"rendered":"