More action needed around cyber defense

You know you have reached the pinnacle on a given subject area when the topic is covered in the culture section of Vanity Fair, and that happened recently in regard to cyber warfare.

Everyone is talking a good game when it comes to cyber warfare, defense and intelligence, but in reality progress is slow and labored. The pace with which acts of cyber aggression are advancing in frequency and complexity as compared to the advancement of defense and intelligence can be accurately compared to the old story of the tortoise and the hare.

There is no doubt that the economic recession decreased the ability of the private sector to fund research and development efforts for cyber defense. The same is true with the government. The massive government spending to jump-start the economy has in all reality left the government strapped for cash, and they too have a greatly decreased ability to spend on cyber defense. Just look at discussions around proposed cuts in the defense budget.

It is time to get creative. We need to tap into the innovative minds of our designers, programmers, and engineers and take a game-changing approach to the cyberattack threats we face daily. We can’t just keep talking about it and doing the same old things – that fact is reinforced every single day. A challenge has been thrown down by our enemies, and we must answer that challenge aggressively because the security of our nation depends on it.