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Protecting Our Cyberspace

-- By ChevaunSamuels - 02 Dec 2019

Cyberspace has become a key domain of power execution and a core issue of global politics. Initially, cyberspace was constructed as a space free from regulation and intervention. However, after many cyber-attacks and the expansion of knowledge, the rising tide of threats to the stability and future development of cyberspace has spurred calls for more expansive governance. Cyberspace governance is characterized by a large number of actors, issue areas, and fora involved in processes of steering. Cyberspace is often equated with the World Wide Web but the two are not the same. Cyberspace can be thought of as a complex, highly distributed network infrastructure. In contrast, the World Wide Web denotes a collection of resources identifiable by means of global Uniform Resource Identifiers, and accessible via cyberspace. Accountability in cybersecurity is virtually non-existent. Despite billions of dollars spent worldwide on cybersecurity solutions, cyberspace is in one of its most fragile states ever. The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Risks Landscape 2018 ranked cyber-attacks alongside extreme weather events and the prospect of nuclear war as the most likely and dangerous risks threatening the stability of society.

Our society has moved from a period where it was simply a few people torrenting movies and songs to put on an MP3 player. Large-scale attacks are becoming more commonplace as well as more damaging. The cost of cybercrime to businesses is expected to top $8 trillion by 2022. There are many resources that are in existence to protect software from being attacked. But despite these precautions, there are still many attacks that happen. The goal for governance should be to protect all the people from all possible attacks. To do that, we need to fill all the gaps and spaces of attack. By shifting our collective mindset about what we expect from the cybersecurity industry, there can be a tremendous benefit for all those concerned and all those who are sitting around waiting to be attacked.

Accountability structures should be reflective of the diversity of the individuals who are attacked and use the cyberspace. The enlistment of stakeholders essential to the resolution of specific cyberspace governance problems presents an important first step with regard to streamlining collective accountability structures and identifying corresponding responsibilities. The adoption of constitutionally inspired enforcement mechanisms has proven fruitful in various cases. In the context of one of the largest cyberspace governance entities, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the appointment of an ombudsman has helped clarify otherwise murky accountability structures and provided community members with a useful mechanism of recourse.

Furthermore, accelerating the development of advanced methods for controlling access to networks or the information resident on them is crucial. While one of the principal advantages to cyberspace is the ability to share information nearly instantly and globally, at every level of classification, and with one person or millions, there is no “inalienable right” to unfettered access to all systems and all information. We need systems engineered to be used responsibly by people with a reasonable amount of training. Otherwise, we may be asking for unreasonable levels of proficiency on the part of the operator and not enough on the network administrator or software engineer.

To help with governance, it is imperative that we have more programs to equip the younger generation to learn about computers and cyberspace in general. Often times the younger generation is not provided with the proper exposure to computer science and to the technicalities of things such as coding. This exposure for the younger generation will help to make sure that we have a positive future and we have individuals who are willing to learn about the industry and grow in knowledge. Cyberspace’s ubiquity demands lifelong attention to norms of behavior. To have high standards for cyberspace means protection training should begin literally in elementary school and receive an appropriate emphasis throughout one’s entire career to include all military profession schools, service and joint professional development education, and technical training. There are too many case studies to help drive home the costs and risks of bad cyberspace practices in our education and training courses. Despite substantial differences between nuclear and cyberspace operations, when it comes to developing a culture of accountability the nuclear analogy reigns supreme and should be viewed as the gold standard when devising cyberspace protection training at every level.

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