Privacy and Security – Pandora’s Web?

Cyber criminals stole $6 trillion in 2021 – a sum greater than the GDP of every nation with the exception of the U.S. and China. But, that’s table stakes compared to the cost to our democracy – namely confidence in our government and society – all at the hands of increasingly sophisticated and determined state sponsors. Unless we fix the cyber security and integrity issues, democracy may fall.

At the tactical level, the Federal government will spend more than $20 billion on cyber security in 2022, galvanized by the Biden Administration’s Cybersecurity Executive Order. Why then, does it feel like we’re still engaged in a game of whack-a-mole? The simple answer: While the Cybersecurity EO is a start, it’s not a fix-all. Programs largely remain siloed and indecipherable against a highly organized and sophisticated threat vector. CISA had no idea that Russians were in our house for many months during the SolarWinds breach – would it be any different today?

A lot to unpack here. Is it time to consider regulating the internet? How do we juggle individual freedoms and national security? And, how do we secure Uncle Sam?