A new agenda is urgently needed to improve our nation’s cybersecurity.
First, unlike the military’s command-and-control approach to past defense challenges, this new threat will require a collaborative and networked approach across public and private sectors. The data that cyberattacks target do not reside completely in one sector or another. We need to ensure that privacy issues are directly and adequately addressed in order to build the trust necessary for businesses and other organizations to work with the government on the safeguards we need to protect both.
Second, greater security requires greater investment. Investing more resources in cybersecurity is an economic and national security priority. Our servers, information networks, and personal devices now exist on digital battlefields, with real-world consequences. Without sustained effort and bold ideas, our entire society will remain vulnerable to more destructive attacks, threatening our national security and robbing us of our privacy and precious intellectual property — the lifeblood of future American jobs.
Third, we need to understand that every segment of government has a role to play. As co-chair of the Council of Governors, which Congress created to better coordinate defense and homeland security issues, I worked with the secretary of defense and the secretary of homeland security to expand cybersecurity capabilities at the state level. We pushed for every state’s National Guard to develop cybersecurity units, which could be established quickly and affordably, and tap the skill sets of civilians. The federal government should support these efforts with financial and technical assistance to help states fulfill their commitments to strengthen cybersecurity.
In Maryland, we did just that, making investments in cybersecurity that continue to pay dividends. . .
Maryland’s record of achievement on cybersecurity issues provides a path forward for the nation. Our digital information and networks are critical to our economic might and national security. We should treat them like the precious resources that they are.
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