Cyber Project

The invasion of Ukraine thrust the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency into public consciousness as the nation’s key cyber security risk advisor during a time of heightened risk. Congress recently passed legislation requiring critical infrastructure operators to notify the agency of security breaches, bringing it into closer contact with the private sector. This development builds on positive momentum for the agency, following a series of executive orders that expanded its authority and created a specific Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative to share information about threats between the public and private sectors. Nearly four years after its creation, the agency now has more visibility into the risks the country is facing and more resources at its disposal to combat them.

Earlier this year, the Belfer Center’s Cyber Project embarked on an ambitious project, but one we believe is achievable: to get a federal data privacy and security law passed. Such a law will have enormous benefits for consumers, businesses, and national security. In the absence of a federal law,  organizations are still free to collect, hold, process, use, and sell data however they wish.

In collaboration with the R Street Institute’s Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats Team, led by Tatyana Bolton, and Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s Senior Advisor Cory Simpson, the Cyber Project is taking a focused approach to the problem. 

In February and March, Belfer Center Student Fellow Winnona DeSombre and Environment and Natural Resources Program Director Henry Lee testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington, D.C. During separate hearings on China’s capabilities and plans related to cyber and to energy, DeSombre and Lee recommended actions Congress should take for the U.S. to remain competitive with China.

Intelligence agencies have struggled to define how open source intelligence fits into its broader work, but the wide breadth of publicly available information about the Ukraine conflict, combined with proactive disclosures of classified information, are providing some clarity about OSINT’s role. Lauren Zabierek and Maria Robson Morrow spoke with the Federal News Network on how the public and private sectors are leveraging open source intelligence, including challenges and opportunities.

The U.S. is grappling with increasingly challenging transnational technology, policy, and security issues, which are complicated further by the economic and supply chain relationships with China. As the Biden administration and Congress look at developing policy solutions that will both reduce dependence on China and strengthen the United States’ resilience, it is important that these policies form a larger, holistic strategy that articulates the national security narrative clearly. 

Joseph Nye argues hat the major threat to U.S. power comes from its internal divisions. These are serious liabilities but they were not created by the invasion of Ukraine.

With the looming threat of increased conflict in Ukraine, businesses around the world should be preparing now, write Paul R. Kolbe, Maria Robson Morrow, and Lauren Zabierek. Corporate security and intelligence teams have said they’re seeing an increase in cyber probes, and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the European Central Bank have both issued warnings about potential Russian cyberattacks. At this point, companies should be taking the following steps: 1) Review business continuity plans; 2) Closely examine supply chains; 3) Actively engage peer networks, vendors, and law enforcement around cyber intrusions; 4) Instill a security mindset in employees; and 5) Make sure corporate intelligence and IT teams are working closely together on solutions.

Joseph Nye argues that prudence results from the fear of creating unintended consequences in unpredictable systems and can develop into a norm of nonuse or limited use of certain weapons or a norm of limiting targets. Something like this happened with nuclear weapons when the superpowers came close to the brink of nuclear war in 1962, during the Cuban missile crisis. The Limited Test Ban Treaty followed a year later.

Joseph Nye writes that although the United States has long commanded the technological cutting edge, China is mounting a credible challenge in key areas. But, ultimately, the balance of power will be decided not by technological development but by diplomacy and strategic choices, both at home and abroad.

The powerful effects of artificial intelligence are already being felt in business, politics, medicine, war, and almost every other domain of twenty-first century life. For all of its positive potential, the technology presents significant risks that are best addressed sooner rather than later.