Intellectual Property Law

Enter Stage Right: The "Cyber Czar"

By jennifer

This blog post appeared today in the ACSblog of the American Constitution Society.

National commitment to cybersecurity is welcome, but government control of the internet is not. This morning's White House-issued cybersecurity proposals seem to recognize this distinction and are therefore vastly preferable to the Rockefeller-Snowe Cybersecurity Act introduced into Congress last month.

Today, President Obama announced that he would create a White House-level position of "cyber czar" to coordinate and oversee federal efforts to improve network security and response to cyber attacks. At the same time, the White House released a cybersecurity report giving more specific proposals for how the federal government can improve the security of our national networks. Together, the proposals credit the importance of protecting both the network and civil liberties, though the devil will be in the details.

Neither government nor private sector computers are nearly secure enough. But whether a network is secure depends on multiple factors including the value of the information traveling over that system, the evolution of the state of the art in computer programming and the commitment and resources of an attacker. Thus, "cybersecurity" is an ongoing process of research, investment and risk-management, not an attainable final state of impenetrability.

The government must secure our critical infrastructure networks, and can play a leadership role for the private sector. Both goals require wonky management more than dramatic gestures. As security expert Bruce Schneier has pointed out, the causes of government cyber-insecurity are rather mundane.

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Full post as published by Electronic Freedom Foundation - Deep Links on May 29, 2009 (boomark / email).