Practically, cyberspace touches almost on everything and everyone in our current lives. It has been designed as a great platform for innovation and prosperity with its core objectives being to improve the general welfare of people around the globe. However, there have been great risks posed to individuals, private enterprises and nations due to the lightly regulated broad reach of our digital infrastructure. There have been numerous recent cases of cybercrime that have resulted to many organizations and individuals raising concern over the state of cyber security in our country. The most recent cyber attacks concerns being the alleged extensive China’s military cyber attacks on various American companies. Therefore it is the responsibility of the government to address these deliberate vulnerabilities so as to make certain that United states and its citizens can be able to safely tap and realize the full potential of the revolution in information technology. In this paper, I will seek to discuss my ideas, suggestions and strategy recommendations to the endeavor by the government to try and curb cyber crime through the formulation of a unified cyber policy.
Owing to matters of National interests, It is my belief that, the United States government should make efforts to try and conduct a national wide dialogue on cyber security. This gives the government the ability to create more awareness of the probable risks and threats emanating from cyberspace and to ensure an integrated approach towards the need for cyber security in our country. When addressing network security, partnership with the government, private sector and the general populace as well as the international community is important in our efforts to uphold cyber security. The United States requires a comprehensive framework which ensures that coordinated responses and recovery are made by the government in the incident of a cyber threat. However, Cybercrime becomes extremely difficult to prevent especially when it is alleged to have been carried out by an ally country’s sector such as the other country’s military. As explained by Christopher White in his article cybersecurity, innovation and national power, it proves to be a daunting task of resolving cybercrime incursions from other countries due to the technical and structural challenges involved in addressing these emerging threats.
My suggestions in regard to the formulation of a unified cyber policy as a result of the recent attacks alleged to have been carried out by China’s military is for the US National Security Council (NSC) to appoint a cybersecurity policy official who will be mandated with the coordination of the Nation’s cybersecurity policies and activities (Whyte 2011).. With this official in place, a strong National security council will be established and consequently under the direction of this cybersecurity officer, there will be adequate coordination and interagency developments of an array of cyber-related policies and strategies. President Obama has also been in the forefront in efforts of trying to curtail the rapid growth of cybercrimes. He recently issued an Executive Order (EO) directing the National Institute of standards and technology (NIST) to come forth and develop a framework in cybersecurity which would include procedures, processes, methodologies and standards so as to address the cyber risk.
In comparison to other forms of criminal activities, cyber crime has not been accorded the seriousness it deserves. People appear not to care so much about this form of crime, to the general public, it appears as just another form of activity that is way beyond their interest. Therefore I would suggest that, in order to ensure that this form of crime has been reduced and cybersecurity becomes enhanced the we should designate cybersecurity as one of the major management priorities by the president and would be ultimately be used as a performance metric of the president by the citizens. It is therefore worth noting that the president plays a major role in the efforts to reduce the level of cyber risk. A president's approval of an updated national strategy that secures the information and communication infrastructure should be prepared.
The federal government cannot succeed in securing our cyber space if it works in isolation. It calls for shared responsibilities in order to ensure that we have achieved safe and reliable digital infrastructures. Therefore I would insist that creation of awareness and adequate educational campaign aimed at promoting cybersecurity to be given priority during the formulation of the policy. It is only through these partnerships that US will be able to provide better cybersecurity services and ultimately enable all the stakeholders to maximumly reap from this digital revolution. It is evident that the issue of securing the cyberspace is a global challenge that requires a lot of efforts in multilateral forums. In addition, the policy should include a prepares cybersecurity response plan which would be able to incorporate dialog to enhance the public –private partnership.
In regard to the cyber threat that has been explained in Christopher White’s article on China’s cybercrime incursion and the legal hindrances that exists and denies jurisdiction of a country into another country's territory, I would recommend that the United State government to formulate a policy which positions the US for an international cybersecurity framework. This cybersecurity framework should further strengthen our international partnerships and consequently address the full range of policies, activities, initiatives and any opportunities that may be arising or being associated with cyber security (Whyte 2011). It is also advisable that an international privacy and civil liberties official be designated to the National Safety Council on the cybersecurity directorate as part of the policy formulation.
In conclusion, the desire to ensure that cyber security is enhanced by making our cyberspace satisfactorily resilient and trustworthy so as to be able to support our goals of economic growth , privacy protections and civil liberties can be achieved through the formulation of efficient cybersecurity policies. I believe that I have adequately explained my thoughts, suggestions and recommendations on the issue of cyber threat. Issues in regard to cyber security should no longer be taken lightly as it has been the normality, since threats to cyberspace pose an immense and serious challenge to the United States economic, national and international security concerns. However, through proper formulation and implementation of various policies aimed at providing cybersecurity, I believe that these levels of cyber threats would reduce if not being completely curbed.
Works cited
Whyte ,Christopher. Cybersecurity, Innovation and National Power march11,2013
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/cybersecurity-innovation-national-power-8205
Retrieved April 30,2013
