Cyber Security: Our Government's Attempt to Secure our Lives Digitally

By Marcus Atkinson

Follow me on twitter: @marcusatkinson

Recently, the Obama administration issued an executive order encouraging private business to work together and with the federal government in an effort to improve cyber security for all of us.

In addition, the administration sent legislation to Congress, asking them to formally pass a bill giving the Department of Homeland Security (which covers cybersecurity), permanent status within the government.

This legislation is part of a larger federal government spending bill due to expire on February 27.

Since its formation shortly after 9/11, the DHS has been working on what is called a “continual resolution”, which according to the head of the DHS, severally restricts the budget and thus capability of the DHS.

President Obama spoke at the Cyber Security and Consumer Protection Summit at Stanford University and he outlined the necessity for private industry to share security information and the federal government’s need to know what is happening with private industry in order to properly protect the American people from cyber-attacks. 

·        Over 100 million cyber accounts were breached in 2014

·        8 in 10 people have said they feel they “lost”, control of their digital identity

Cyber-attacks threaten our banking, our nation’s military system, our health industry and of course, our government itself.  Security goes well beyond making sure your individual password has a capital, letter, a number and a symbol, this is evident with recent hacks within our banks such as JP Morgan Chase, our department store shopping such as Target, and of course, the recent hack of Sony, allegedly by the North Korean government. 

The president emphasized the success of the program hangs of the shared mission and cooperation of private industries to work together as share partners.

The federal government’s role would be primary decimating information to different private industries to they can work in unison in preventing and reacting from cyber-attacks, as well as preventing attacks from foreign hackers.  All while “protecting the civil liberties of the American people”

A general protocol has formed that would prevent, respond, and recover from any and all cyber-attacks.