The Wall Street Journal article We're Losing the Cyber War details just how bad things were when it comes to the loss of information from the federal Office of Personnel Management.
What will it take for the American public to demand action? Today it seems people are buffered from personal loss by banking rules that protect them from thefts of information and account balances.
Some have prognosticated that there will eventually be a cyber 9/11. In my mind that is a bit far-fetched. Why stage that type of event when you can take down your adversary with a thousand pin pricks? While the general public enjoys reading about the Sony Pictures emails and internal riffs and intrigue between stars and their studios, we don't have the same appreciation for if A can be done then B is possible.
We are bleeding information across the board. It is not only government data, but also proprietary business information. It is easier to steal information than innovate on your own. What the Chinese are expert in is copying designs and processes. And it's not just criminal gangs in Eastern Europe, but also friendly countries like France and Israel that have significant cybercapabilities that they're not hesitant to employ to gain an upper hand.
These incursions and raids of our data will continue until we collectively wake up. Unfortunately the weakest link applies to this issue of cybersecurity and we all have to do our part.
