In this briefing, Melissa Hathaway highlights the history of the Internet and the tensions between economic and national security goals.

President Barack Obama's talk about the need for a "smart grid" sounds smart, writes Melissa Hathaway. "What's not to like about the idea of an electricity grid that can work at top efficiency?" It would "vastly improve the reliability, availability and efficiency of the electric system." However, she argues, "as currently envisaged...it's a dangerously dumb idea. The problem is cybersecurity."

Melissa Hathaway writes that the key tenet of cloud computing is availability. But where are the other cornerstones of information security: integrity and confidentiality? She suggests five key questions CIOs and CISOs should ask.

"There is widespread agreement that this long-term trend of grabbing the economic gains from information technology advances and ignoring their security costs has reached a crisis point," write Melissa Hathaway and Jack Goldsmith. "As we progress digitally, we must also adopt and embed sometimes-costly security solutions into our core infrastructures and enterprises and stop playing the game of chance."

In this briefing, Melissa Hathaway provides an analysis of more than 40 pieces of legislation that are being debated in the 111th Congress.

"Our most important resource right now is time. Targeted attacks on industry are increasing and our defensive posture remains weak. While a sense of urgency is rising, I am afraid that we will see more partnerships emerge rather than consolidated efforts and investments across executive branch agencies or industry verticals. We cannot afford to wait and see who will lead and who will follow."

"While many understand the opportunities created through this shared global infrastructure, known as cyberspace, few Americans understand the threats presented in cyberspace, which regularly arise at individual, organizational and state (or societal) levels. And these are not small threats: a paper presented earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland estimated the total losses associated with cybercrime in 2008 exceeded one trillion dollars and the FBI has declared cybercrime to be its highest criminal priority."

"In a time where we discuss and debate border protection from in-bound missiles or illegal immigrants, we fail to address the stark reality of the threat that transgresses our borders daily. This threat is present in the Internet...."

The internet is an interconnected series of networks--where it is difficult to determine where private security threats end and public ones begin.  These networks deliver power and water to our households and businesses, enable us to access our bank accounts from almost any city in the world, and transform the way our doctors provide healthcare.  For all of these reasons, we need a safe Internet with a strong network infrastructure.

"It is no longer sufficient for the U.S. government to discover cyber intrusions in its networks, clean up the damage, and take legal or political steps to deter further intrusions. The U.S. must take action to protect the critical components upon which our economy, government, and national security are based from potential exploitation, disruption or destruction."