As American businesses, inventors, and artists market, sell, and distribute their products worldwide via the Internet, the threat from criminals and criminal organizations who want to profit illegally from their hard work grows. The threat from other nations wanting to jump start their industries without making the intellectual investment is even more disturbing. This fleecing of America must stop. We can no longer afford complacency and silence—we must find and use as many market levers as possible to change the path we are on.

"What is needed is a holistic approach by governments around the world, with policies, laws and regulatory frameworks that support the communications sector and ISPs as they provide security to ensure the internet remains a public good."

In today's interconnected world, the Internet is no longer a tool. Rather, it is a service that helps generate income and employment, provides access to business and information, enables e-learning, and facilitates government activities. It is an essential service that has been integrated into every part of our society. Our experience begins when an Internet Service Provider (ISP) uses fixed telephony (plain old telephone service), mobile-cellular telephony, or fixed fiber-optic or broadband service to connect us to the global network. From that moment on, the ISP shoulders the responsibility for the instantaneous, reliable, and secure movement of our data over the Internet.

By combining the power of both institutions, everyone could achieve economies of scale and a stronger defensive cyber posture.

"Cybersecurity is a means to enable social stability and promote digital democracy; a method by which to govern the Internet; and a process by which to secure critical infrastructure from cybercrime, cyberespionage, cyberterrorism and cyberwar. As nations and corporations recognize their dependence on ICT, policymakers must find the proper balance in protecting their investments without strangling future growth."

"If Congress focuses its efforts on the areas where members appear to agree reform is needed, then it is possible that a cybersecurity bill will finally become a law. The proposals, if adopted, will make incremental change and a small difference in our cybersecurity posture. Bolder steps are needed but are unlikely to be taken given the combination of this fiscally constrained environment, politically divided Congress and the upcoming presidential election cycle."

The Executive Branch faces numerous complex challenges in a variety of domestic and international arenas. Strengthening our information security posture is certainly one of them, and the Administration must take a bold approach to accomplishing this end. The author presents a unique strategy for strengthening cybersecurity, recommending that the Executive Branch should call upon three independent regulatory agencies — the SEC, FCC, and FTC — to support our information infrastructure and protect American enterprise.

Explorations in Cyber International Relations Senior Advisor Melissa Hathaway discusses the current state of U.S. cybersecurity policies and outlines several new recommendations for Congress and the Executive Branch to enact in this Congressional briefing on March 1, 2011.

In this briefing, Melissa Hathaway updates her May 2010 briefing on more than 50 pieces of legislation that are being debated in the 111th Congress. She highlights recent congressional activity, including the release of three Government Accounting Office studies and the introduction of thirteen new pieces of legislation.

Countries will need to reconcile the facts that their Internet infrastructures are vulnerable and less resilient to attack and that their economic dependence on the Internet makes cooperation between countries on cybersecurity issues essential. Disparate and uncoordinated cyber defense schemes could adversely affect individual and collective security, privacy, usability, transparency, speed, and interoperability. Much tighter alignment and better integration of European and NATO initiatives with national laws, policies, and funding priorities is necessary to counteract threats against national networks and infrastructure. Only through international cooperation and private-public partnerships can cyber defense measures succeed.