The U.S. government should adopt structural changes not seen since the 2001 terrorist attacks to confront proliferating cyber threats that increasingly endanger national and economic security, a federal commission concluded, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission called for changes ranging from modifications of existing functions to a government overhaul. The panel urged creation of committees in Congress dedicated solely to cybersecurity and a Senate-confirmed post of national cyber director in the White House. The commission said the current approach to preventing or mitigating damage from cyberattacks is fundamentally flawed and in need of immediate change. “The U.S. is currently not designed to act with the speed and agility necessary to defend the country in cyberspace,” the report said. “Our country has lost hundreds of billions of dollars to nation-state-sponsored intellectual property theft using cyber espionage.”
The report said the U.S. must prepare for a major cyberattack that could “create chaos and lasting damage exceeding that wreaked by fires in California, floods in the Midwest, and hurricanes in the Southeast.” The report’s authors acknowledged that several recommendations may be difficult to achieve, given political hurdles and Washington’s tendency to retain the status quo in the absence of crisis. “This is the 9/11 Commission report without 9/11,” said Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who co-chaired the group. “We understand that this is a tall order.” A core theme of the report is that successive administrations have largely failed to deter Russia, China and other adversaries, including criminal groups, from carrying out increasingly debilitating cyberattacks. The report outlined a three-tiered strategy of “layered cyber deterrence” to reduce the consequences of cyberattacks.