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Posted on October 24th, 2011 in Current News, Privacy & Policy by Noah Gamer | Be the first to comment | Tags: Current News, Internet Safety

Recommendations for better federal cybersecurity were released recently.

Back in March, public figures that ran the gamut from a former U.S. representative to the United Nations to President George W. Bush’s National Security Advisor met at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., for the Cyber Threats symposium. The center of discussion was how to combat cyberattacks aimed at U.S. companies and the federal government.

The findings and recommendations from that event were recently released in the form of the Cyber Threats to National Security: Keeping the Nation’s Industrial Base Safe From Cyber Threats report from the government IT solutions provider CACI International, the U.S. Naval Institute and the Center for Security Policy. All three organizations sponsored the March gathering.

Above all else, the report recommended, organizations in both the public and private sector must remain vigilant when it comes to data security measures as threats are becoming ever more sophisticated. Success in combating such threats can be achieved through an Internet security strategy that combines national security policies with federal legislation, as well as input from the private sector, according to the report.

“Only through the development of a dynamic, national, cybersecurity policy framework, which directs all government agencies and promotes public-private partnerships, can we hope to protect our economy,” Jack London, chairman of the board of directors for CACI, said.

Congress, as well as other organizations in the federal government, have seemingly already heeded this advice.

Currently, there are more than 30 pieces of cybersecurity legislation working their way through Congress. While many may never succeed, the proposed laws demonstrated that federal lawmakers have recognized the need for the government to play a role in fighting cybercrime and protecting national networks.

Such actions are becoming more necessary all the time, the CACI-USNI-CSP conference attendees agreed, as enemies both within the country and abroad take aim at U.S infrastructure through cyberspace.

“Our adversaries – both familiar and newly emergent – have shown their intent and ability to use cyberspace to conduct warfare without firing a shot,” CSP President and CEO Frank Gaffney said.

Also, the U.S. Department of Defense released a new cybersecurity policy this summer. The Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace detailed how the U.S. military will play a role in Internet security programs, including through special training for U.S. forces and the creation of new defense networks, among others. The new strategy also called for federal agencies to work closely with one another to promote cybersecurity.