1. Escalating Security Threats

Economic and national security threats to the United States from cyberspace (the virtual place where online communications occur) grow annually. A mushrooming underground economy scams computer users to the tune of $100 billion a year. Recently, the NewYork Times concluded that thieves profit tremendously in cyber conflicts. Patrick Lincoln, director of the computer science laboratory at SRI International, is quoted as saying, "Right now, the bad guys are improving more quickly than the good guys." Several Business Week articles over the past year relate a rising number of security gaps amid sensitive computer networks. For example, in fiscal year 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrestled with nearly thirteen thousand cybersecurity incidents, a 150 percent increase from the prior year. In the summer of 2007, Newsweek reports that 1 ,500 Pentagon computers were hacked. The Department of Defense acknowledges that the military copes with over three million digital intrusions to official networks daily.

The CSIS report verifies that foreign opponents invade U.S. computer networks and capture valuable data regularly. Corporate losses measure in the billions. Such attacks threaten the economy as antagonistic interests gain access to corporate business plans, intellectual property, supply chain information, and customer communications. This erodes the dividends from innovation and unintentionally underwrites the research and development of international competitors. Failure to defend cyberspace adequately encourages more attacks. Moreover, the global strategic environment means cyberspace vulnerabilities offer high value targets to antagonistic interests.

 

 

2. Legal and Regulatory Initiatives

Legal and budgetary authorities pertaining to federal cybersecurity must be modernized. The Federal Information Security Management Act requires overhauling to shield government-connected systems from attacks and known vulnerabilities. The cornmission recommends that this include performance assessment. Further, the historic distinction between civilian and national security systems must be replaced with a riskbased orientation that demands privacy impact appraisals. As part of the legal review, the statutory framework for pursuing criminal investigations of Internet crime needs updating. The primary task here is to engage Congress in legislation designed to speed investigations while protecting the privacy of legitimate users.

Cyberspace demands regulation. On the basis of threat assessment levels, the United States must secure sustainability of critical services in cyberspace through defending critical cyber infrastructures and issuing standards. The commission identifies energy, finance, convergence of information technology and communications, and government services (including state and local governments) as essential cyber infrastructures. It suggests a new regulatory approach that avoids overreliance on market forces. Public-private partnerships should concentrate on infrastructures while coordinating protocols for protection and response. Performance security metrics and enforceable standards require development.

 

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