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Freedom of the Cyber Seas

How lessons from the U.S. government's response to pirates in the early 1800s can help the next president of the United States improve information security

By Aaron Turner & Michael Assante

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The international community could move toward a system that mimics how international shipping is regulated. For example, a body of international maritime law sets expectations on the high seas and establishes responsibilities for captains to responsibly navigate their vessels at all times, including during entrance to and exit from ports. Treaties are negotiated by nations to determine how commerce is to be conducted, and traffic from rogue or hostile states is treated differently than traffic originating from friendly nations. Nations interested in increasing the value and volume of their shipping trade guarantee, to the best of their ability, the safety of traffic originating from their ports, and this in turn stimulates their economies. Governments establish policies and enforcement regimes designed to protect the general public from dangerous products that merchants may attempt to import. As a whole, maritime law has matured to the point where nations can engage in a predictable commercial trade on the high seas.

Now is the time to start developing similar policies, legal frameworks and enforcement mechanisms for Internet commerce and communications. It could be argued that such a course of action could save the Internet from itself, by establishing a system that has clearly outlined responsibilities for all Internet users, with appropriate controls to mitigate cyber threats--all while still maintaining enough flexibility and minimum overhead not to inhibit innovation. The goal is to embrace interconnecting the world, but to do so in a manner that results in a stable and more predictable environment to further promote commerce and the sharing of ideas.

What the Next President Should Do

With that goal in mind, let us consider how the United States could take a Jeffersonian approach to the cyber threats faced by our economy. The first step would be for the United States to develop a consistent policy that articulates America's commitment to assuring the free navigation of the "cyber seas." Perhaps most critical to the success of that policy will be a future president's support for efforts that translate rhetoric to actions--developing initiatives to thwart cyber criminals, protecting U.S. technological sovereignty, and balancing any defensive actions to avoid violating U.S. citizens' constitutional rights. Clearly articulated policy and consistent actions will assure a stable and predictable environment where electronic commerce can thrive, continuing to drive U.S. economic growth and avoiding the possibility of the U.S. becoming a cyber-colony subject to the whims of organized criminal efforts on the Internet.

Specifically, the president should declare U.S. intentions with a call to action to government and business leaders during the first State of the Union address. The president's policy statement should open up a dialog to consider private- and public-sector initiatives to begin working on creative approaches to the growing number and severity of cyber incidents. Most importantly, a presidential declaration outlining the unalienable right of all nations and peoples to conduct commerce on global networks will set the tone for all cyber security efforts undertaken in the next administration. The message needs to outline how the nation can collectively prevent intrusions by building up defenses and providing lookouts in the territorial cyber waters that constitute U.S. information infrastructures. The president's message should outline how the United States will identify, challenge and disrupt any effort to violate the national right to free commerce on the cyber seas. This message will not be lost on the criminals and nation/state actors who are currently involved in cybercrime that, virtually unimpeded, is growing in sophistication. The president's plan must set aside appropriate resources to counter any organized affront to the announced policy.