There is no doubt that a federal cybersecurity agency is in our future. The only question is when will we see its creation and what will that mean for cybersecurity schools, large corporations, and the United States in general?
The Current State of Cybersecurity
It’s clear we live in a time of transition when the real world and the digital world continue to merge and the grey lines between these two realities are becoming more difficult to define. The worldwide web is more like the wild wild west.
Physical laws in counties, states, and countries are not easily managed and defined across thousands of miles of digital cable and satellite uplink. It’s for these reasons and more that we believe that a federal cybersecurity agency is necessary and imminent.
The United States has been fortunate to have less than 25 major cybersecurity-related incidents in the past 12 months.1 However, plenty of high-profile leaks have already happened, including the Target leak (2013 – 41 million affected2), Marriot leak (2016 – 383 million affected3) and Ashely Madison leak (2015 – 5.5 million affected4).
What’s Already in Place to Protect Us from Cyberattacks?
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is an advisory section within the Department of Homeland Security.5 As most know, the DHS was founded after the attacks on September 11, 2001.
The CISA advises Homeland Security on possible threats to digital and physical infrastructure. This is the cursory step in the direction to complete cybersecurity and cyber protection. The CISA is the closest entity we have to a federal cybersecurity agency.
The Future Federal Cybersecurity Agency
Experts believe that the U.S. is vulnerable to cyber attacks “because the government lacks central leadership on defense mechanisms and strategies. Currently, there are cybersecurity divisions within various agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and various intelligence groups such as the CIA and the NSA.”6
What are your thoughts?
Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think about the future of cybersecurity and national cybersecurity in general.
Sources
[1]: Center for Strategic Internal Studies – Significant Cyber Incidents
[2]: USA Today – Target to pay $18.5M for 2013 data breach that affected 41 million consumers
[3]: Techcrunch – Marriott now says 5 million unencrypted passport numbers were stolen in Starwood hotel data breach
[4]: Digital Guardian – A Timeline of the Ashley Madison Hack
[5]: Department of Homeland Security – About the CISA
[6]: CSO – Federal cybersecurity agency on the way?