Cyberspace Solarium Commission turns five years old
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The commission has largely influenced cybersecurity policymaking in Congress through the first half of the decade.
An influential cybersecurity policy advisory body that has shaped much of the cyber regulatory decision-making in Washington turns five years old this week.
In the last five years, Congress and the executive branch have adopted 80% of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s initial 82 recommendations, along with more than three-quarters of the additional proposals presented in its report and white papers, a blog posted Thursday said.
“The federal government now has the tools in place to effectively advance U.S. interests and defend U.S. national security in cyberspace,” said the blog authored by Mark Montgomery and Jiwon Ma of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which houses the commission’s successor entity, CSC 2.0.
Montgomery and his FDD colleagues have put forward regular cyber policy recommendations and reports over the past several years. One of them recently included a recommendation to stand-up a U.S. Cyber Force, akin to other military service branches like the Air Force and Navy. The group’s yearly reports also measure how many of its recommendations have been adopted by Congress and the executive branch.
CSC has been deemed a major force behind contemporary U.S. cyber policy decisions. Members of Congress in the original commission — which included then-Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., as well as Sen. Angus King, I-Maine — formed the backbone that created the Office of the National Cyber Director, which has helped the federal government meet various cyber priorities outlined in a sweeping strategy it unveiled in 2023.
“I consider my participation in the Solarium Commission among the most successful endeavors of my time so far in the U.S. Senate — but also believe the work must continue,” King said in the blog post.
Gallagher, now head of defense at Palantir Technologies, also said that “the success of the Solarium demonstrates what can happen when a bipartisan issue is tackled in a determined and thoughtful manner.”