Why is it important that organizations of all sizes invest in cybersecurity? From the beginning of time business owners have sought to keep their intellectual property safe and out of the hands of other individuals who may want to steal or do harm to their business. Now to skip forward a few thousand years, the introduction of the internet have businesses exploring and expanding the way they communicate and share data, serve clients and process information, lower overall costs, and increase profits. With this technology, geographically separated employees can link with the parent company, partner companies can now share data, they can hold web based conferences, fill orders for customers, and update their inventory in real time. This …show more content…
Cybersecurity attempts to assure the protection of assets, which includes data, desktops, servers, buildings, and most importantly, humans. The goal is to protect data while in transit and when stored. Countermeasures can be put in place in order to increase the security of data. Some of these measures include, but are not limited to, access control, awareness training, audit and accountability, risk assessment, penetration testing, vulnerability management, and security assessment and authorization.
In April 2009, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN), Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced the “Cybersecurity Act of 2010-S.773”. (Rockefeller, 2010)
The Intent of the bill is to not only increase partnership between the public and the private sector on the issue, but also "to ensure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications, to provide for the continued development and exploitation of the Internet and intranet communications for such purposes, to provide for the development of a cadre of information technology specialists to improve and maintain effective cybersecurity defenses against disruption, and for other purposes." It also outlined creation of an advisory panel, that each member of this panel will be appointed by the President of the United-States. They
The most recents detections of how cyber warfare is inevitably coming was the accusations of Russia hacking the the Democratic National Committee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email’s releasing damaging evidence against them which ultimately lead to Donald Trump being named the President of The United States (Diamond, 2016). The effects of cyber warfare have leaked over in to televise series, forming shows such as CSI cyber, and the gaming world, Call Of Duty Infinite Warfare. Neglect regarding cyber security can: undermine the reputation of both the government and elected officials; force unacceptable expenditures associated with the cost of cleaning up after security breaches; cripple governments' abilities to respond to a wide variety of homeland security emergency situations or recover from natural or man-made threats; and disable elected officials' ability to govern (Lohrmann, 2010). Classified information such as overseas operators and attacks, missile locations, response plans and weaknesses, and much more cripples America’s ability to defend itself from enemies both foreign and domestic. To combat cyber terrorism is the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA. In an article titled “Why Cybersecurity Information Sharing Is A Positive Step for Online Security” it is discussed that under CISA, the Department of Homeland security will have more responsibility for domestic cybersecurity. CISA’s fundamental purpose is to better enable cybersecurity information to be shared between the private and public sectors (2016). The sharing of threat information between public and private sectors can give the the United States a head start by allowing them to share information rapidly and more often to combat enemy threats while still providing safety for privacy and civil
For this research paper, proposals from May 2011 Cybersecurity Legislative Proposal and the proposed Cyber Security Act of 2012 is considered which would impose specific requirements on State of Maryland information security policy. They are as follows:
This would allow the government to foot the cost of research and development and slightly standardize the industry. An option should be established to allow the private sector to add input and aid in creating concepts that would aid in cyber security measures within their industry. One issue of concern would be how slow the government can be sometimes to create or implement features such as cyber security measures or equipment. Cyber security laws have not yet caught up to the technology which available to most of the public. Including the private sector to have an option to assist in creating cyber security programs and measures may be beneficial with expediting the process of implementing security
H.R. 1731, the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement (NCPA) Act, is bipartisan bill passed unanimously by the Committee on Homeland Security. This pro-privacy, pro-security bill ensures the sharing of cyber threats is transparent and timely. It strengthens the NCCIC’s role as the lead civilian interface for cyber threat information sharing by: Providing liability protections for the voluntary sharing of cyber threat indicators and defensive measures with the NCCIC or private-to-private. Granting liability protections for private companies to conduct network awareness of their own information systems. Allowing companies to operate defensive measures and conduct network awareness on information systems they own or operate. The NCPA Act also ensures personal information
In order to understand the true problems with these plans in place, we must first discuss what these practices are. In early 2016, former President Obama created a Cybersecurity National Action Plan or CNAP, for short. The issue of cybersecurity is a very big one in the United States and President Obama knows and understands the true importance of this issue. The CNAP discusses some of the most important concerns over this topic and does the best it can to combat it with the best of its ability. This plan includes things such as establishing a commission on enhancing national cybersecurity using experts from outside the government, a proposal of a $3.1 billion dollar Information Technology Modernization Fund to help modernize and replace old information about this subject in the government, and invest close to $19 billion dollars for cybersecurity (The President’s National Cybersecurity Plan: What You Need to Know).
The EO13636 chief objective is to improve the Cybersecurity Framework of principles and determine what the best practices are that may possibly be taken to decrease the threat from all cyber dangers. Under EO13636, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Security Staff, and The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will coordinate with additional investors to advance the Cybersecurity Framework. National Institute of Standards and Technology executives are asking that everyone who is involved take an active role in the development of this Framework (Fischer et al., 2013)
The report will be critical to addressing the cyber security issues while focusing on information sharing between the government agencies and the private businesses. Additionally, the report will highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the legislative proposal that is the cyber security information sharing the act of 2015 and its subsequent effects on privacy and the internet at the same time considering the other cyber security bills.
A strong and diverse multi-sector advisory entity is essential to guiding cybersecurity policy aimed at providing for the public good. Simple public-private partnerships, while important, are falling behind the demand for a more holistic and community centered approach to cybersecurity and cyber health. Boards that include state, federal, and local government, academia, health, financial, business, industry, critical infrastructure owners and operators, and cybersecurity entities are affecting innovative change. Diverse guiding bodies are best fit to research and advise on solutions aimed at bolstering the cybersecurity posture of the state as a whole. This multi-sector advisory approach has been executed by states like Colorado, Michigan, Maryland, and California. This structure allows for a large advisory body that can delegate amongst themselves to provide a deeper focus when investigating specific cybersecurity policy areas via subcommittees. The structure provides for a more well-rounded and informed approach to cybersecurity than simple public-private partnerships.
On February 12, 2015 president Obama signed an executive order with the intention to expand the Cybersecurity of the U.S. and to promote principles of collaboration not just in America but around the globe. Cybersecurity has been identified as one of the most challenging subjects of the 21st-century; moreover, cyber-attacks can further compromise the future of our economic development as much as our national security and the decrement of our civil rights and privacy. Since Obama initiate his administration, he has been working on establishing the framework to better balance the interaction between, government agencies, private sector, and the general public. The objective in this essay is to better understand the connotations from several
Cybersecurity is finally now top priority at the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as it was included in the 2014 National Exam Priorities. After the release of the annual priority list, the SEC promptly held a Roundtable in March of 2014 where SEC Chairman Mary Jo White highlighted that cybersecurity threats are global and pose a grave risk to our economy, critical infrastructures, financial markets, and the private data of the American consumer. She noted that the risks are “first on the Division of Intelligence’s list of global threats, even surpassing terrorism.” Less than a month later on April 15, 2014 the SEC’s Office of
Secretary Johnson, this memo is being addressed to you on the basis that the foreign policy issue that is threats to cyber security is of interest to the Department of Homeland Security. In brief explanation of the issue at hand, it can be concluded that the major foreign policy problem of cyber security threats has created and will continue to create imitate danger to the United States of America. The act of breaching the security sustained around private networks has become renowned as a type of terrorism, one that has rapidly evolved since the beginning of the 21st century and has gained even more strength with the increased use of computers. This threat has the potential to risk the exposure of the nation’s most valuable information including government documents, military plans that are considered top secret, and even the United States power grid. The convenience and the ease of use has made this threat greater as individuals conducting what has become known as cyber attacks can be thousands of miles away from the network they hack into. In order for this threat to be combated efficiently, a brief history based around the issue must be conducted as well as an examination of possible alternatives before concluding with the best proposed solution that will bring this threat under control and ultimately aim to eliminate it.
The Federal Government needs to create information systems which are more effective shielded systems to protect their assets and resources at home. The foundation of any mandated cybersecurity strategies that secure our nation national security must incorporate worldwide or state local threats whether targeted toward the federal government or the private sector forces. The OPM breach highlighted the insufficient and inconsistence security approaches the federal government has already used in modernizing the existing cybersecurity policies. There is a requirement for the United States government to institute polices that would incorporate and implement new government cybersecurity structures and centralized the protection of their assets to avert future breaches (Source). Examining the inadequacies in the current national cybersecurity policies and regulations is disappointing as OPM choice to implement these mechanisms and the current authoritative propositions to cybersecurity must change immediately. It was reported that OPM only spent $2 million in 2015 to avert pernicious digital assaults, while the Department of Agriculture spent $39 million. The Department of Commerce, Department of Education, and Department of Labor likewise invested more money in cybersecurity resources than the Office of Personnel Management. The Small Business Administration devoted a similar amount into cybersecurity to recognizing, examining, and alleviate any cyber breaches as OPM, however
How is that data and the systems on which that data resides or is transmitted kept secure. A big question. That’s where we need cyber security. Cyber security involves protecting the information and systems we rely on every day—whether at work or school and at home.
Every state in the nation should have a comprehensive IT security policy due to the “growing array of state and non-state actors are compromising, stealing, changing, or destroying information and could cause critical disruptions to U.S. systems” ("Cyberspace policy RevIew", 2016). Because of “ the dual challenge of maintaining an environment that promotes efficiency, innovation, economic prosperity, and free trade while also promoting safety, security, civil liberties, and privacy rights” ("Cyberspace policy RevIew", 2016). It is the responsibility of state and the federal government “ to address strategic vulnerabilities in cyberspace and ensure that the United States and the world realize the full potential of the information technology revolution” ("Cyberspace policy RevIew", 2016).
Americans are becoming heavily dependent on modern day technology, which produce more vulnerability to cyber-attacks such as security breaches. Cyber security, also known as information technology security, is information security as applied to computers and computer networks. It is designed to protect networks, programs, computers and data from attacks. These attacks can lead to damages or unauthorized access to data. Computer security also includes protection from unplanned events and natural disasters. Cyber security main function is to guard computers, networks, programs and data from unintended or unauthorized access, change or destruction.