Cyberspace: The (New) Final Frontier
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For decades, the United States' defense budget was spent on defending our borders from conventional military threats. Even though projects such as the 'Star Wars' debacle drew attention (and a large chunk of change), most of the Department of Defense's $500 billion budget has been directed towards military personnel and traditional equipment (although some of our 'traditional' equipment is far from the norm). However, it seems this trend is set to change.
The new administration is pushing for a greater focus on defending national interests in cyberspace, and defense contractors are directing spending towards hiring hackers instead of engineers. Bloomberg estimates that this new sector in the defense industry could grow to $11 billion by 2013, and Lockheed and Boeing (among others) are quickly pouring time and money into expanding their cybersecurity units. Hackers (Worst/Best. Movie. Ever.) have historically been on the opposite side of the law, but as cyberspace becomes the new battlefield, individuals who used to be criminals are now our first line of defense from foreign attacks on the Pentagon's data centers. And if this sounds like the plot to a bad summer movie, it gets better: the Russians are involved.
President Barack Obama has made no secret of his desire to shore up the Pentagon's cyberdefense, and has gone so far as to announce the creation of a 'cyber command' in the Pentagon. Over this past weekend, as the NY Times reported, President Obama is making it clear that he plans to take this program a step further. This next week Obama will visit Russia, and one of the top talking points on the agenda will undoubtedly be the differences of opinion regarding international cooperation in this new frontier. Russia is pushing for a treaty like the kind used in constricting the use of chemical weapons, while the United States is looking for international cooperation between law enforcement agencies. I put the odds of this turning into a complete mess at about 2:1.
The potential for legal conflict, confusion and censorship (among a litany of other possible problems) when discussing national 'cybersecurity' is astronomical, and there will certainly be issues as this agenda becomes more defined. The fact that this requires international cooperation to be effective only complicates matters. However, one thing is certain; it's a cool feeling to use terminology like 'cybersecurity' and 'cyber command unit' and not get laughed out of the room.
