The US government is taking steps to enhance the country's cybersecurity capabilities and improve its overall technology governance strategy. President Joe Biden recently unveiled a new National Cybersecurity Strategy aimed at securing cyberspace and building a resilient digital ecosystem that is easier to defend than to attack.
"When we pick up our smartphones to keep in touch with loved ones, log on to social media to share our ideas with one another, or connect to the internet to run a business or take care of any of our basic needs, we need to be able to trust that the underlying digital ecosystem is safe, reliable and secure," Biden wrote in the framework's preface.
The strategy is part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to reinforce cyber and technology governance, which includes increasing accountability for tech firms, strengthening privacy protections, and ensuring fair competition online.
Why does the United States require a National Cybersecurity Strategy?
The world is becoming more complex, and cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated, with ransomware attacks causing millions of dollars in economic losses in the United States. According to IBM, the average cost of a ransomware attack in 2022 will be more than $4.5 million. The greatest threats we face are interconnected, raising the prospect of a "polycrisis," in which the overall combined impact of these events exceeds their individual impact.
This is also true of technological risks, where attacks on critical information infrastructure, for example, could have disastrous consequences for public infrastructure and health, or where rising geopolitical tensions increase the risk of cyberattacks.
Cybercrime and cyber insecurity were ranked eighth in terms of severity of impact by risk experts polled for the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report, both in the short term (the next two years) and over the next decade. According to Google data, state-sponsored cyberattacks targeting NATO users increased by 300% in 2022 compared to 2020. With cyberattacks on the rise, experts at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting at Davos predicted that 2023 would be a "busy year" for cyberspace with a "gathering cyber storm".
“This is a global threat, and it calls for a global response and enhanced and coordinated action,” Jürgen Stock, Secretary-General of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), said at Davos.
According to the Forum's Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2023, 93% of cybersecurity experts and 86% of business leaders believe global instability will have a negative impact on their ability to ensure cybersecurity in the future.
As Biden notes, "Cybersecurity is essential to the basic functioning of our economy, the operation of our critical infrastructure, the strength of our democracy and democratic institutions, the privacy of our data and communications, and our national defense.
"We must ensure the internet remains open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, and secure – anchored in universal values that respect human rights and fundamental freedoms."
What are the National Security Strategy's five pillars?
Because the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the world's digital transformation, we rely on connected devices and digital technology to do more than ever before, putting our lives and livelihoods at greater risk from cyber threats.
The US National Security Strategy recognizes the need to rebalance the burden of responsibility for cybersecurity away from small businesses and individuals and onto the public and private organizations best placed to defend cyberspace through "robust collaboration".
It also aims to strengthen cyberspace resilience by balancing the need to address immediate threats with incentivizing investment in the digital ecosystem's secure, long-term future. Each of the five pillars it establishes is divided into strategic objectives, but here's a quick rundown of what they entail:
1. Defend critical infrastructure
2. Disrupt and dismantle threat actors
3. Shape market forces to drive security and resilience
4. Invest in a resilient future
5. Forge international partnerships to pursue shared goals
