Dive Brief:

• The U.S. must have the ability and will to launch "crippling counter-cyberattacks," Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Monday in a speech about his cybersecurity plans.
• The strategy also would include a “cyber review team” to “systematically review the security of each federal agency, investigate suspected hackers and train federal employees,” The Hill reported.
• Trump also said said his approach would effectively prevent breaches before they occur. Trump did not provide any details about how the program would be funded.

Dive Insight:

Trump said his cyber team would require each agency and official “to follow the best and strongest practices.” He would also establish a training and continuing education program and vowed to ensure that the US military is “the best in the world in both cyber offense and defense.”

But he also said the ability to launch "crippling" counterattacks was absolutely vital, and questioned whether the US currently had that capability.

In April, security risk benchmarking startup SecurityScorecard said US federal, state and local government agencies rank lowest in cybersecurity when compared to the private sector. And with big federal data breaches at the Office of Personnel Management and the IRS, which have resulted in huge data losses, federal agencies need to do whatever they can to ensure they are protecting the public’s data.

Trump's businesses have had their own cybersecurity issues. In April, the Trump Hotel Collection became the victim of a second credit card system breach in less than a year.