America is losing the cyber war, according to a issued this week.
The has failed to protect vital information from foreign attacks, says the report. It suggests that a new 鈥淣ational Office for Cyberspace鈥� might do a better job.
The US faced a wave of cyber attacks last year. The Department of Homeland Security itself was , as were the Departments of Defense, State and Commerce. The unclassified email of the Secretary of Defense was hacked, and the Department of State lost terabytes of information.
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That prompted a policy research body called the to assemble a group of cybersecurity experts to review current practices and draw up a list of recommendations for the next administration 鈥� as published in this week鈥檚 report.
The group concludes that internet security measures are still inadequate. Years of under-investment in international relations have weakened America鈥檚 standing in the world, and encouraged the country鈥檚 opponents to increase cyber attacks, it says. Those attacks rank alongside terrorism and weapons of mass destruction as threats to the US and its allies.
Protective protocols
Whereas there is at least some degree of international consensus for dealing with conventional threats 鈥� supplying WMD technology to hostile nations is considered unacceptable, for example 鈥� the policy 鈥渘orms鈥� for cybersecurity are not well developed. A concerted international effort to improve defences against hacking is called for.
That includes the need for new attack-resistant security protocols at the heart of the internet. Today鈥檚 protocols are similar to those used in the 1970s and 1980s, when the embryonic internet was still largely a research tool and trust wasn鈥檛 an issue.
To work out a defensive strategy in more detail, the report calls on president-elect Obama to form a new 鈥淣ational Office for Cyberspace鈥� within his Executive Office. That office and not the Department for Homeland Security would be best suited to deal with the growing cyber threat, says the new report, because 鈥渃ybersecurity is no longer 鈥� a domestic issue鈥�.
But the report does praise the Bush administration for bringing in the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative last year. Despite its name, this initiative is not comprehensive, says the report, but it is a good start.
At least five members of Obama鈥檚 transitional team contributed to the report, and they look forward to reviewing the recommendations, according to a spokeswoman.
