{"id":38367,"date":"2018-04-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-06T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=38367"},"modified":"2018-04-06T17:54:43","modified_gmt":"2018-04-06T07:54:43","slug":"cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber needs to be centre stage for every world leader, minister and business CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

It seems every day brings news of another high-profile cyberattack or intrusion affecting our personal data, national security or the very integrity and availability of the institutions and infrastructure on which we depend. These cyber threats come from a range of bad actors including ordinary criminals, transnational organised criminal groups and nation-states.<\/p>\n

Indeed, in mid-February, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and several other countries attributed<\/a> the devastating NotPetya ransomware worm\u2014that caused billions of dollars of damage across Europe, Asia and the Americas\u2014to the Russian military as part of the Kremlin\u2019s efforts to destabilise the Ukraine.<\/p>\n

At the same time, special counsel Robert Mueller in Washington unveiled a remarkably detailed criminal indictment<\/a> charging a range of Russian individuals and organisations with a concerted effort to undermine the 2016 US elections.<\/p>\n

Although active, Russia is hardly the only prominent nation-state threat actor in cyberspace. North Korea orchestrated the attacks on Sony Pictures and was responsible for the recent WannaCry ransomware that seriously affected the UK\u2019s health-care system. Iran was responsible for attacks on US financial institution websites. And China conducted a prolonged campaign of cyber-enabled theft of trade secrets that targeted businesses in Australia, the US and many other countries.<\/p>\n

Some states also pose international policy challenges\u2014using cybertools to monitor and repress their citizens. Criminals and other non-state actors have caused huge financial losses and compromised personal data through ever more sophisticated cyber schemes. Don\u2019t yet attack critical infrastructure through cyberspace, but use the internet to plan, recruit and communicate.<\/p>\n

In the 27\u00a0years that I\u2019ve been dealing with these issues\u2014first as a US federal prosecutor, then in senior positions at the Department of Justice, FBI, White House and most recently as Coordinator for Cyber Issues at the State Department\u2014I\u2019ve never seen the threats we collectively face in cyberspace to be greater, or the need to address them to be more urgent.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there\u2019s now much greater public and governmental attention on these issues then there was even a few years ago. Australia has launched ambitious cybersecurity and international cyber strategies, created new institutions and appointed seasoned leaders to key posts. The US has focused on cyber issues for the last decade\u2014among many other things enhancing incident response, creating international and domestic strategies, and promoting a framework for cyber stability.<\/p>\n

Other governments are also increasingly prioritising cyber issues, as are at least some key business sectors. Moreover, there are now so many \u2018cyber summits\u2019 devoted to these issues around the globe that it seems we\u2019re in the middle of the Cyber Alps (European or Australian).<\/p>\n

Yet, though cyber may be the new black because of all this attention and activity, something critical is missing. Cyber still hasn\u2019t been woven into the fabric of our core national security and other policies. Too often it\u2019s seen as a separate, boutique issue.<\/p>\n

I was in Australia earlier this year\u2014where I completed a stint at ASPI\u2019s International Cyber Policy Centre<\/a>\u2014going to Canberra directly from the Munich Security Conference (MSC)\u2014a sort of Davos for the international security policy crowd. Every year MSC features a number of political leaders, industry titans and senior policy wonks from around the world debating everything from the future of Europe to Middle East peace (or lack thereof) to the rise of China.<\/p>\n

Cyber is there too, represented in an ever-increasing array of side events. But, significantly, it\u2019s not on the main stage.<\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s great that MSC focuses on cyber in a myriad of side gatherings and at standalone events, the problem with that approach (and which is similar to other major national and economic security forums) is that the cyber-focused events tend to become echo chambers, with the same cadre of cyber cognoscenti traveling like a nomadic tribe from one meeting to the next.<\/p>\n

Heads of government, national security advisors, legislators, generals and ministers who come to high-level policy meetings like MSC should be participating in those discussions, especially because they don\u2019t deal with those issues every day and because they may be well out of their normal comfort zone.<\/p>\n

Of course this also requires that the cyber cognoscenti do a better job of putting these issues into a form that senior policymakers understand\u2014as core issues of national security, human rights and foreign policy\u2014rather than as primarily technical issues.<\/p>\n

The failure to \u2018mainstream\u2019 cyber issues into larger national security and policy debates has real consequences. Though there\u2019s greater awareness these days among senior officials that \u2018the cyber\u2019 is important, there\u2019s little understanding of what to do to counter cyber threats or how the full toolset of national capabilities outside the cyber arena can be used.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a real risk that these issues won\u2019t get the sustained attention they deserve. Although I think the discussion is more mature now, there\u2019s a precedent. The US launched a cybersecurity strategy in 2003. But by 2005 it had been essentially shelved because of a lack of understanding and the rise of other priorities.<\/p>\n

Further, really integrating these issues with a sustained strategic focus leads to new solutions to some of the key problems we are facing in cyberspace. When widespread Chinese theft of trade secrets and intellectual property was seen as a cyber issue, there was little understanding of its long-term implications or how to respond. Only when it was finally recognised as a core economic and national security issue was the US willing to risk friction in the overall relationship with China, rather than just trading barbs in cyber channels.<\/p>\n

That allowed an expanded range of options across the entire bilateral relationship, coupled with a commitment to a sustained multi-year effort that produced tangible results. Unless cyber issues are understood and integrated by non-cyber, senior policymakers, their approach too often is episodic and ineffectual.<\/p>\n

Of course, this is also true in the business community. C-suite folks are increasingly aware that cyber is a big thing, but like many senior government leaders, don\u2019t know what to do about it or how to integrate it into corporate decision-making or risk management. While more corporate boards are paying more attention to cyber risks, the responsibility still often devolves to the chief information security officer who, in far too many cases, has limited access to the CEO or the board, and often is dismissed as a cost centre.<\/p>\n

There are some positive signs of change. Though there was no cyber-focused session on the main stage at MSC, the UN secretary-general, the UK prime minister, the US national security advisor and several other leaders raised cyber as part of their keynote remarks. There was increased interaction between the \u2018cyber tribe\u2019 and the broader community on the margins, and participation of high-level executives from both technology and other companies. More corporate boards are now getting briefings from cybersecurity advisors and the public, at least for the time being, increasingly appears to care about cyber threats.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, if we are truly to succeed in combatting the increasing threats in cyberspace and seize the many opportunities it offers, more needs to be done to demystify cyber policy and make it part and parcel of our larger national and economic discourse. We can\u2019t afford for this to be a passing fad or the province of a select priesthood. Rather, cyber policy should be a core concern of every leader, minister and CEO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems every day brings news of another high-profile cyberattack or intrusion affecting our personal data, national security or the very integrity and availability of the institutions and infrastructure on which we depend. These cyber …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":783,"featured_media":38370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2138],"class_list":["post-38367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-cybersecurity"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCyber needs to be centre stage for every world leader, minister and business CEO | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cyber needs to be centre stage for every world leader, minister and business CEO | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It seems every day brings news of another high-profile cyberattack or intrusion affecting our personal data, national security or the very integrity and availability of the institutions and infrastructure on which we depend. These cyber ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-06T22:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-06T07:54:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/matrix-2502958_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christopher Painter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher Painter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/matrix-2502958_640.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/matrix-2502958_640.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":426},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/\",\"name\":\"Cyber needs to be centre stage for every world leader, minister and business CEO | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-06T22:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-06T07:54:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/55075cd4df3df622c325025bb0cf70d1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cyber needs to be centre stage for every world leader, minister and business CEO\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/55075cd4df3df622c325025bb0cf70d1\",\"name\":\"Christopher Painter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7aab58dca488762f36432082ad0dbd37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7aab58dca488762f36432082ad0dbd37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Christopher Painter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/christopher-painter\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cyber needs to be centre stage for every world leader, minister and business CEO | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cyber needs to be centre stage for every world leader, minister and business CEO | The Strategist","og_description":"It seems every day brings news of another high-profile cyberattack or intrusion affecting our personal data, national security or the very integrity and availability of the institutions and infrastructure on which we depend. These cyber ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2018-04-06T22:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-04-06T07:54:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":426,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/matrix-2502958_640.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Christopher Painter","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christopher Painter","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/matrix-2502958_640.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/matrix-2502958_640.jpg","width":640,"height":426},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/","name":"Cyber needs to be centre stage for every world leader, minister and business CEO | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2018-04-06T22:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-06T07:54:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/55075cd4df3df622c325025bb0cf70d1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-needs-centre-stage-every-world-leader-minister-business-ceo\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cyber needs to be centre stage for every world leader, minister and business CEO"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/55075cd4df3df622c325025bb0cf70d1","name":"Christopher Painter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7aab58dca488762f36432082ad0dbd37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7aab58dca488762f36432082ad0dbd37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Christopher Painter"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/christopher-painter\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38367"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/783"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38367"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38372,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38367\/revisions\/38372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}