Issue 543 Cyber Defence and Obama March 9, 2015

I actually agree on something the President wants to do.  In this case it is to shore-up our electronic defenses against foreign attack.  So here is what he wants to do, and what I feel he should also be doing.

Obama's proposal:  The NSA used to be the only game in town when it came to electronic defenses.  In this case, it was all regulated by government.  Then it was deregulated and we now have a myriad of antivirus and antispyware programs.  But this is increasingly not enough as hackers and other bad guys seem to be removing the blocks on all the data that we want kept private.  Obama proposed a new cyber security agency to do this job, but I only like a single part of this proposal which would allow more people to fight hackers without relying on government or a need for a new agency.  In this case that part of the proposal will declassify data on hackers, cyber-attacks, and the methods they used, which has been kept secret by both the military and intelligence agencies previously.  In this case, the data will release data primarily to companies who make cyber defense software like Norton, MacAfee, and the like.  This would allow them to shore-up gaps in peoples' private security and in a company's security as well.  This to me, the NSA can do on its own without a new cumbersome bureaucracy, but the President likes big government, so what can I say.

My addendum:  In addition to the one part of the President's proposal, I would make one additional part to this.  In this case, I would license hackers to hack back.  So if a company or a government facility is hacked, hackers licensed by the government will actively seek to identify the hackers and at the same time stop them from doing any damage/retrieve stolen information.  This concept is underway, but if it is combined with the above, it will allow antivirus and spyware companies to offer a new service that can actually protect you actively, rather than passively defend your computer.

Conclusion:  Defending our electronic information is becoming increasingly important.  Identity theft is a very real threat, and can ruin people financially.  In an age where there is no more privacy, this last vestige of financial and key private information must be protected.  What more can I say, messing with people and potentially harming them must be prevented. So these two things together will more than shore-up our personal defenses.