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2015 U. Ill. J.L. Tech. & Pol'y 341 (2015)
Cybersecurity: What about U.S. Policy?

handle is hein.journals/jltp2015 and id is 349 raw text is: CYBERSECURITY: WHAT ABOUT U.S. POLICY? Lawrence J. Trautmant This article is inspired by the potential of significant new university initiatives on cybersecurity research: First, at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society's forthcoming project on Cybersecurity: Rethinking the Role of the Foreign Intelligence Community in Promoting Cybersecurity. Thanks to Jonathan Zittrain (Principal Investigator), Matt Olsen, Bruce Schneier, Urs Gasser, David O'Brien, and Rob Faris for undertaking this important project. Next, a recent gift by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has resulted in the establishment of three major new cybersecurity policy research initiatives at: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Stanford University; and University of California, Berkeley. Also deserving special mention is Southern Methodist University's Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security. Particular thanks to Frederick R. Chang, Carol Mullins Hayes, Admiral Bobby R. Inman, USN (Retired), Mitchell Kominsky, Stuart S. Malawer, and Julie J.C.H. Ryan for their assistance in the research and preparation of this article. All errors and omissions are my own. Abstract During December 2014, just hours before the holiday recess, the U.S. Congress passed five major legislative proposals designed to enhance U.S. cybersecurity. Following signature by the President, these became the first cybersecurity laws to be enacted in over a decade, since passage of the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002. My goal is to explore the unusually complex subject of cybersecurity policy in a highly readable manner. An analogy with the recent deadly and global Ebola epidemic is used to illustrate policy challenges, and hopefully will assist in transforming the technological language of cybersecurity into a more easily understandable story. Much like Ebola, cyberthreat has the ability to bring our cities to a standstill. Many cybersecurity policy implications are strikingly similar to those occasioned by Ebola. First, a brief recital of the grave danger and potential consequences of t BA, The American University; MBA, The George Washington University; post-graduate studies (Management Information Systems) University of Texas at Dallas; and JD, Oklahoma City Univ. School of Law. Mr. Trautman is a past president of the Dallas Internet Society and the New York and Metropolitan Washington/Baltimore Chapters of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He may be reached at Lawrence.J.Trautman@gmail.com. 341