Us Govt Role in Security

U.S. Government Cybersecurity Role in Private Industry

September 21, 2011

What is the U.S. Government Cybersecurity Role in Private Industry? At the epicenter of cybersecurity resides the difficult task of how organizations tackle security in every sense of the term.  While many groups may argue, the United States Government has an obligation to enact laws and regulation that both assists and provides guidance in the cyber world; this is a highly debatable subject.  In reality, the business conducted via electronic means, has advanced so quickly over the last ten years that legislation have fallen behind to a point that today the risk are vast.  National Security is at risk and electronic cyber warfare is increasingly important and similar to the traditional responsibility of the United States Military in the area of protection of citizens from both domestic and foreign threats.  To put the urgency of this matter into perspective within the private sector all that is required is to reference the cyber-attacks upon Sony and their Play Station network in early 2011.  Once the smoke cleared, the estimated financial impact cost was $170 million dollars.  Outside the obvious financial impact to a business is the concern about consumers.  It is clear that while security education is on the rise, basic security measures are ignored from many organizations for reasons that are not clear.

What better way to begin addressing the relationship of the United States Government and the private sector than turning to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Northrop Grumman and his remarks on cyber-attacks.  In September 2011, Wes Bush was addressing an audience at the Aerospace and Defense Summit and made the statement that further regulations are warranted to address cyber security (Wutkowski, 2011).  In today’s political climate, this statement clearly is in the minority where many are now calling for less regulation.  The need for regulations may be questionable but it does set...