U.S. 'Losing' Battle to Boost Online Security, Report Finds

Dec 16, 2008 3:20 PM

President-Elect Barack Obama had been talking about the importance of cybersecurity and fighting dangerous computer viruses even before foreign hackers broke into his campaign computer network to steal information.

He will have his work cut out for him. A new report warns that the fight to secure the nation's cyberinfrastructure "is a battle we are losing."

The Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, a bipartisan group of computer security experts, released a series of recommendations to the incoming head of state.

According to U.S. World News & World Report, the commission studied online threats, which have been a growing concern after a slew of recent attacks against military and federal agency networks over the past few years. Similarly, events in Estonia and Georgia highlighted the transnational—perhaps state-sponsored—variants of online attacks.

Simply put, the threat of cyberattacks is "among the most serious economic and national security challenges we will face in the 21st century, and our nation must respond vigorously to threats against our cyberinfrastructure," according to Rep. Jim Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat who cochaired the commission.

A key recommendation by the panel echoes a proposal already put forward by Obama— appointing a "national cyberadviser" to provide high-level attention to the issue.

More broadly, the commission concludes that there is an urgent need for a more coherent national policy on cyberissues and better coordination across the federal government.

Other central recommendations include:

* Updated laws and a public statement from the president that "cyberinfrastructure of the United States is a vital asset for national security and the economy and that the U.S. will protect it, using all instruments of national power, in order to protect national security and public safety, ensure economic prosperity, and assure delivery of critical services to the American public."

* Creating a new office for cyberspace in the executive branch that would be charged with "managing the many aspects of securing our national networks while protecting privacy and civil liberties."

* Better regulation of the Internet. "Voluntary action is not enough," the report says. The country "must assess and prioritize risks and set minimum standards for securing cyberspace, to ensure that the delivery of critical services in cyberspace continues when we are attacked."

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