The initiative arrives as US officials warn that adversaries are already pre-positioned inside critical infrastructure networks, with the potential to disrupt electricity, water, and communications during geopolitical conflict.
What CISA is trying to solve
At its core, CI Fortify is about operational resilience under worst-case conditions. CISA is urging organizations to assume that connectivity, particularly to external providers, may not be available during a major incident and to plan accordingly.
That resilience means developing the ability to intentionally disconnect from third-party services, telecommunications, and even portions of their own IT environments, while continuing to operate critical systems. It also means being able to restore compromised systems rapidly while in that isolated state.