AMITAI
ETZIONI
Cybersecurity
in
the
Private
Sector
The nation's
businesses
manage a significant share
of
online
activity
related
to
nationaL
security and must playa
Larger
role
in
ensuring
the
overall integrity
of
the
system.
he United States
is
facing major cyber at-
tacks by criminals and agents
of
foreign
governments.
with attacks
penetrating
the military
establishment
and
the
pri-
vate sector alike.
The
need
to
better pro-
tect military systems
is
well recognized.
But
protecting
the
private
sector
has
drawn
less attention. and even
some
resistance.
Yet
protect-
ing
the
private sector
is
increasingly critical. because the
United States, more than most if not
all
other
nations, draws
heavily
on
private corporations for
ensuring
national secu-
rity.
Corporations
manufacture most
of
the
nation's arms.
Corporations produce most
of
the software and hardware
for
the computers the government uses. And corporations, un-
der
contract
with the government.
carry
out many critical
security
functions. including
the
collection and processing
of
intelligence
and
the
conduct
of
covert
operations.
The
heavy reliance
on
the private sector for security, in-
cluding cybersecurity, was accentuated
during
the Bush ad-
58
ISSUES
IN
SCIENCE
AND
TECHNOLOGY
ministration, which contracted out significant parts
of
mis-
sions that preViously were carried
out
in-house. This trend
has been
only
slightly scaled back
during
the
Obama
ad-
ministration.
In
short, it
is
now almost impossible to imag-
ine a secure United
States in which security
is
provided only
to the
computers
and
Internet used by the public sector.
At
first blush, it might seem that the private sector would
strongly
support
new
measures that
enhance
cybersecu-
rity.
Many
of
the
crimes
committed
in cyberspace, such as
electronic
monetary
theft,
impose
considerabl~
costs
on
private companies.
The
same holds for industrial espionage,
especially from
other
countries. which deprives
U.S.
cor-
porations
of
the
fruits
of
long
investments
in R&D
and
grants maior advantages
to
unfair competitors.
In
addition,
if
cyber warfare were to
break
out. many
of
the assets that
would probably be damaged belong to private corporations.
And
not
to be overlooked, businesses are operated by indi-
viduals
who,
one
assumes.
have a vested interest in
the
nation's security.
