If on any given day, foreign nationals pulled moving vans up to the loading docks of government agency buildings, filled them with computers and drove away with sensitive information, Americans would be outraged. The fact is it is happening, but with no trucks and no finger prints. The United States is under attack in cyberspace.

Today’s hackers are no longer thrill-seeking teenagers; they are organized crime syndicates and national militaries that commit espionage. From thousands of miles away, increasingly sophisticated foreign adversaries are electronically infiltrating sensitive U.S. computer networks to obtain military technologies. Foreign competitors and criminals unabashedly steal trade secrets from American companies through similar methods. Critical systems that run our financial, energy, and transportation infrastructures have also become victims of cyber attack and exploitation. One operation discovered a vulnerability in which generators could be destroyed by the mere click of a mouse.

Our national leaders have been far too slow to understand the scope and significance of this threat. America’s laws for cyberspace are decades old, written for primitive technologies in a less-connected era. Our bureaucracy is organized for an industrial age. We are not prepared to meet the threats of the 21st century.

We have a plan to reverse this course. As co-chairs of the Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, we worked with dozens of the best and brightest private sector experts and government officials to develop recommendations to secure cyberspace and protect our national interests.

When we began our work in August 2007, the United States was suffering from a wave of cyber penetrations that afflicted many departments and agencies. Though the Bush administration took significant steps to begin to address these problems, the situation remains grim: valuable data is regularly stolen. What was once a problem for techies is now on the minds of the most senior policymakers. That is why defense and intelligence officials briefing the incoming administration have placed cybersecurity at the forefront of the national security agenda.

We advocate for 21st century solutions to meet this 21st century problem. We would begin by announcing a national cyber doctrine, declaring the cyber infrastructure of the United States to be a national security and economic asset that requires protection using all instruments of national power – diplomatic, economic, military, law enforcement, and intelligence..

The Federal government must be reorganized to to effectively implement our national doctrine Today, many people and agencies are responsible for securing pieces of cyberspace, but nobody is in charge of the overall vision. We recommend creating a National Office for Cyberspace within the White House to provide oversight, clarify agency responsibilities, ensure accountability, and increase transparency and collaboration for the many cybersecurity programs across multiple agencies.

Achieving this vision on the Federal level requires a comprehensive approach towards using and securing cyberspace. Security must be an inherent part of all government operations, from how we hire and train professionals to the design, maintenance and eventual disposal of our computer systems. We must find new ways to collaborate and organize, and to create innovative solutions to the many problems we face as a nation. Our approach must also focus on strengthening identity and authentication of those who enter networks, as they are a core component of any program.

In order to secure and protect privately-owned critical infrastructure from cyber attack, we must reinvent the partnership between government and private industry. We believe a new collaborative regulatory model that espouses sensible regulations, combined with incentives, will result in stronger cybersecurity throughout the private sector.

Finally, federal support for focused research and development is a critical component of any successful strategy. We must invest in longer term research and development designed to create a more secure ecosystem.

We are in a long-term struggle, with criminals, foreign intelligence agencies and militaries, and others, who continue to severely damage the economic health and national security of the United States. Finding ways to take better advantage of cyberspace will help give the United States a competitive edge in a world where many believe we are currently running behind. The Obama administration has an opportunity to improve the situation; we hope these recommendations can contribute to that effort.

 

Congressmen Langevin (D-RI) and McCaul (R-TX) are the Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the House Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, Science and Technology.