The President of United States (US) Barack Obama unveiled a Cyber Security National Action Plan.

 The action plan called for an overhaul of aging government networks and a high-level commission to boost security awareness.

The action plan was unveiled on eve of Safer Internet Day designated by governments and technology firms to boost awareness on cyber security issues.

Main highlights of Action Plan:

• The plan seeks to address both short-term and long-term threats, with the goal of providing every American a basic level of online security.

• Obama issued an executive order creating a 12-member Cyber security Commission to make recommendations to both the public and private sectors. The panel will submit the report to the president by 1^st December 2016.

• The plan also called for a new federal chief information security officer to direct cyber security across the federal government.

Budget for Cyber Security Action Plan:

Obama asked for 19 billion US dollar for cyber security efforts in his budget request, a 35 percent increase from current levels, with 3 billion US dollar earmarked to help modernise the patchwork of computer systems used in government agencies.