Countering the Cyber Threat

The current path to national cybersecurity hides a fatal design flaw. Resident within the current national approach is the assumption that we can continue business as usual with limited sharing between the public and the private sector, the creation of information sharing and analysis centers, the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, and a range of ad hoc local, state and federal organizations each addressing a slice of a complex and highly interconnected environment. The result is a lack of integrated coordination, continued hacks, and a public increasingly weary of all things cyber. We are approaching the current challenge as if we are living in August of 2001, ignorant and oblivious to the tragedies just over the horizon. All the while the private sector treats each incident in isolation, highly focused on their slice of a broader digital ecosystem.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Congress, the executive agencies and departments, and the judicial system in coordination with the will of the American people moved swiftly on legislation and strategies to address a complex asymmetric threat. While many of these new pieces of legislation failed in the courts, the unity of effort and the subsequent cooperative environment across all levels of government, and with the private sector, have arguably altered the national security posture and environment within the United States. Most of these changes have created a safer and more resilient domestic environment that has largely been spared the ravages of foreign-inspired terrorism. While not perfect, the current approaches adapted through years of learning, information sharing, and practice have safeguarded the homeland in an increasingly dangerous world. Lessons from the last 16 years of countering terrorism (CT) should serve as a roadmap for developing a robust, whole-of-society approach to safeguarding the homeland against the threats emanating from cyberspace looming beyond view.