Network Security Requires a Team Effort

An opinion piece out of Australia caught my eye this morning. It recommended that securing Australia’s cyberspace needs to be a shared responsibility among, well, everybody:

Success of a country’s cyber and national strategies hinges not only on its ability to collect and share vital information with government agencies, but also its private sector, research community, society and international partners.

Isn’t that the crux of the U.S.’s problem to come up with a solid cybersecurity plan? Rather than uniting to protect the nation’s computer networks, particularly the critical infrastructure, lobbyists and businesses would rather fight any more regulations and would prefer cybersecurity measures be voluntary, not mandatory.

That’s not exactly a team effort.

Perhaps Congress approached cybersecurity legislation backwards. Rather than impose regulations and add amendments to appease the interest groups, there should be conversations. Lots of conversations. I’m not talking about Congressional hearings; they are too combative and intimidating. Rather, Congress and business leaders should take the advice of the Brisbane Times writer Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo:

An effective way to engage in dialogues between the public sector, private sector and the research community is to provide platforms where students, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and other key stakeholders can come together and explore how we can improve our cyber security.

Cybersecurity is an issue that affects every single person globally, whether or not a person individually connects to the Internet. Business functions and critical resources are tied to the network, and hence, need better network security. It is a concern that needs to be addressed not just by legislation, but by common sense and real expertise, as well as a sincere willingness to work together to address avoiding potential disaster.