Cybersecurity and Our Economic Future

In recent months, cybersecurity has become a much higher priority for the nation's lawmakers.  The Obama Administration and members of both parties in Congress have released proposals aimed at improving cybersecurity in the U.S., and the issue is bound to rear its head as we move towards the presidential election.  Both President Obama and leading GOP nominee Mitt Romney understand the enormity of the issue.  Governor Romney included his cybersecurity plan in his foreign policy agenda released last October.  President Obama has focused a significant amount of effort on protecting the nation's cyber networks.

 
Our economy relies on cyberspace to thrive.  It enables e-commerce, e-government, information sharing, and trade.  In fact, the annual global economic benefits of the commercial Internet equal $1.5 trillion.  Not unexpectedly, with the explosive popularity and growth in new technologies, we've witnessed a rise in the number of new threats in cyberspace.  The interests of industry and government in improving cybersecurity are fundamentally aligned and we believe measures that leverage partnership will most effectively improve cybersecurity.


In an effort to better inform the public cybersecurity discussion, ITI has published a comprehensive set of cybersecurity principles for industry and government.  ITI's six principles aim to provide a useful and important lens through which any efforts to improve cybersecurity should be viewed.  To be effective, efforts to enhance cybersecurity must:


1.    Leverage public-private partnerships and build upon existing initiatives and resource commitments;  
2.    Reflect the borderless, interconnected, and global nature of today's cyber environment;  
3.    Be able to adapt rapidly to emerging threats, technologies, and business models;  
4.    Be based on effective risk management;
5.    Focus on raising public awareness; and
6.    More directly focus on bad actors and their threats.

Keep an eye out for TechElect blogs on this issue throughout April, as the Congressional debate picks up and the campaigns likely will be put in a position of commenting more directly on their cybersecurity plans.