Cyber (Formerly Information and Communications Technology) –
There have been very few times in America’s history that galvanized our resolve as citizens and united us closely as a nation. One such moment was December 7th, 1941, “a date that will live in infamy” according to President Franklin D. Roosevelt1, when the Japanese Empire attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack killed 2,403 service members and wounded 1,178 more. On December 8th, 1941, President Roosevelt requested that Congress declare a state of war with Japan.2 Another such moment was September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked multiple targets in the United States killing 2,997, and several hundred more first responders have died since from related illnesses.3 These “shock-event” attacks demanded and resulted in immediate responses by the United States.
Today, our country is under a different kind of attack. The enemy is not dropping bombs or launching torpedoes. Our present-day enemies utilize the ether of cyberspace to cloak their activity, providing near perfect anonymity while conducting long-term campaigns. They exploit the ever-expanding internet of things, our increased connectivity, and our individual ambivalence to leverage a cyber war against our country; conducting small operations over time, achieving alarming cumulative effects. The current fractured state of our political ecosystem provides a convenient distraction for our enemies carrying out these activities in cyberspace and complicate and delay appropriate U.S. response.
The United States has one of the most interconnected societies in the world. The U.S. economy and financial systems require connectivity. Public and private organizations rely on the internet to resource at least some portion of their business activity. These organizations, the internet, and the systems used to access the internet… are all part of the cyberspace ecosystem. The word “ecosystem” gets its roots from ecology. It is defined as “a system, or a group of interconnected elements, formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment.”4 Computers, computer scientists, internet service providers, the IoT devices… are all elements of the cyberspace ecosystem.
The cyberspace ecosystem of the United States is not well. While portions of it are thriving (e.g. connectivity...broadband service is available on a grand scale to almost anyone who desires it), other portions are in a desperate state requiring immediate attention (e.g. human capital...the United States is struggling to maintain a talent pipeline into technology-focused career fields). The security of the entire ecosystem is at risk. This may be best evidenced by the multi-billion dollar investments by our key global competitors in disruptive technologies such as quantum computing, which threatens U.S. asymmetric encryption practices designed to protect our private personal, commercial, and national security information. The United States must act immediately to begin the healing of our cyberspace ecosystem.
The recommendations in this paper are intended to help begin the healing process. The authors used the framework introduced in the 2020 Cyberspace Solarium Commission report as a guideline to shape the analysis and subsequent recommendations across various elements of the U.S. cyberspace ecosystem. In an era when U.S. national debt has surpassed $25 trillion, discretionary budgets are squeezed, and the nation faces a multitude of serious challenges, the industry study team recognizes these recommendations will not be implemented without substantial cost. That said, the costs of not taking action are even higher. Global cybercrime damages are expected to hit $6 trillion next year, continuing to exact enormous financial, operational, and reputational tolls on companies, organizations, and governments, comprising everything from corporate intellectual property to our national secrets
Read the report →