There are so many things going on in the Whitehouse that you would think sooner or later they would get a break, but that is certainly not the case. Now they are on to cyber security. Although many people are applauding Obama for his actions on getting cyber security under control this early in his administration it makes me wonder what other Presidents did. Jim Langevin, co-chair of the House of Cyber Security Caucus, states that, “no single official oversees cyber security policy across the federal government.” President Obama is going to have to get someone to fill this position that has been vacant for a while now. This needs to be someone with cyber security credentials. This person will, I hope, work closely with all other Security advisors as well as the National Security Council. Also if there is for whatever reason a breach of any kind this appointed person will have the authority to shut down the internet.
President Obama asked for a 60-day review of structures for cyber security. The Cyberspace Policy Review stated this meant, “Cybersecurity policy includes strategy, policy, and standards regarding the security of and operations in cyberspace, and encompasses the full range of threat reduction, vulnerability reduction, deterrence, international engagement, incident response, resiliency, and recovery policies and activities, including computer network operations, information assurance, law enforcement, diplomacy, military, and intelligence missions as they relate to the security and stability of the global information and communications infrastructure.”
As we all know our nation’s security and prosperity depends on the stability and security of infrastructure that are largely privately-owned and globally operated. As long as we are willing to safeguard these infrastructures with balance for all parts of our government any cyber hacking will be easily stopped. Melissa Hathaway who conducted the review stated, “We now have a strong and common view of what is needed to achieve change. Ensuring that cyberspace is sufficiently resilient and trustworthy to support U.S. goals of economic growth, civil liberties and privacy protections, national security, and the continued advancement of democratic institutions requires making cybersecurity a national priority.” There are a few things, in my eyes, that will need to be done.
1. An official needs to be appointed to oversee all changes and help to review laws that will strengthen accountability.
2. Americans need to know that there is a threat or risk. Like people have said all along a well informed public is the key to a strong democracy.
Now once all key factors come together then Americans and our government can all have the satisfaction knowing that our world is safe to use and we can transfer all digital information without being scared.
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This article brings some much needed attention to an area of national defense that seems to have been forgotten. The fact is that while cyber attacks have not reached the level of threat that would be expected from warfare, eg. shutting down a city's power grid or disabling a nuclear power plant's safety system, if we ignore the threat then we are only inviting disaster. In suggesting that the official in charge of national cyber security work closely with other defense organizations Ms. Duncan is recognizing that the threat from cyber attacks is real and needs to be treated as seriously as any conventional means of attack.
ReplyDeleteHowever, previous President's efforts at cyber security were overlooked. While President Clinton did not establish a department to handle cyber security he did gather the nation's most respected computer security experts to help secure our nations most sensitive infrastructures after a cyber attack in 2000 against major sites such as Yahoo, Amazon, and eBay. The article also suggests that the department in charge of cyber security have the power to shut down the internet. While this would be ideal for security reasons it is unfortunately not possible. Even China, with their Great Firewall and strict government regulations cannot completely shut down internet communications in their country. But, technicalities aside the point is legitimate. It would greatly benefit the cyber security department to be able to shut off its own access to the internet and rely on an internal network to communicate during a cyber attack.
As Ms. Duncan states this is an issue that needs taken as seriously as any other issue of national defense. Any future war against a powerful nation will include cyber attacks along with conventional warfare methods. Reading this article was an eye opener. Even though I consider myself informed about cyber security it was the last thing on my mind, and this is exactly the problem our nation has with cyber security. Until it is forced to the forefront of issues and given the attention needed to establish real cyber security, it will remain a threat.