Cyberspace Solarium Commission

Last updated

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) was a United States bipartisan, congressionally mandated intergovernmental body created by the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. Its purpose was "to develop a strategic approach to defense against cyber attacks of significant consequences" to the United States. [1] The commission was sunsetted on December 21, 2021, but is continuing its work as a non-profit in 2022, led by Mark Montgomery, the commission's former executive director at the non-profit organization Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) with a limited staff and the support of a small number of senior advisors. [2] [3] Known as CSC 2.0, this project preserves the legacy and continues the work of the CSC. [4]

Contents

Mandate and work

The CSC was created in 2019 with the objective to establish policy solutions required to prevent and prepare the United States against cyber attacks. [2] The commission is considered to have had a major impact on cybersecurity policies by providing blueprints for further transformative processes on the future. [5] In 2019, a small group of members from the DoD and DHS, including Mark Montgomery, future executive director, later joined by the future chief of staff to the commission worked to create the building blocks of the commission, working to establish strategy, office, functions, and hiring. The commission hired multiple directors and senior directors and was augmented by multiple detailees from federal agencies to create three task forces and a forth directorate to cover the whole of cyberspace strategy for the United States. During the course of the commission, the staff engaged with over 400 agencies, public sector representatives, and cyber experts.[ citation needed ]

Report

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission issued a report in March 2020, listing 83 recommendations, for Congressional and Executive action. [6] Over the course of two years, the commission's work led Congress to legislate, appoint, and confirm the National Cyber Director, pushed the release of cybersecurity-focused executive orders, and broadened the authorities and expanded the budget of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. [2] [5]

The commission made recommendations organized into the categories below. [7]

  1. Reform the U.S. Government's Structure and Organization for Cyberspace.
  2. Strengthen Norms and Non-Military Tools.
  3. Promote National Resilience.
  4. Reshape the Cyber Ecosystem.
  5. Operationalize Cybersecurity Collaboration with the Private Sector.
  6. Preserve and Employ the Military Instrument of National Power.

Commission members

During its tenure, the commission included the following members: [8]

The four federal agency representatives rotated based on agency availability, but were most often attended by the highest policy senior executives in their particular agency.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States National Security Council</span> U.S. federal executive national security and intelligence forum

The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald A. Marks</span>

Ronald Anthony MarksFRSA is a former senior Central Intelligence Agency official and Capitol Hill Staffer. He is currently Chairman and CEO of ZPN Cyber and National Security Strategies and an academic focused on Cyber and Intelligence policy issues. His book "Spying in America in the Post 9/11 World: Domestic Threat and the Need for Change," published by Praeger Publishing, focuses on the vast expansion of intelligence collection in America and the need for careful oversight.

The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity – self-designation ENISA from the abbreviation of its original name – is an agency of the European Union. It is fully operational since September 1, 2005. The Agency is located in Athens, Greece and has offices in Brussels, Belgium and Heraklion, Greece.      

A cybersecurity regulation comprises directives that safeguard information technology and computer systems with the purpose of forcing companies and organizations to protect their systems and information from cyberattacks like viruses, worms, Trojan horses, phishing, denial of service (DOS) attacks, unauthorized access and control system attacks. There are numerous measures available to prevent cyberattacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Office for Information Security</span> German federal agency

The Federal Office for Information Security is the German upper-level federal agency in charge of managing computer and communication security for the German government. Its areas of expertise and responsibility include the security of computer applications, critical infrastructure protection, Internet security, cryptography, counter eavesdropping, certification of security products and the accreditation of security test laboratories. It is located in Bonn and as of 2020 has about 1,100 employees. Its current president, since 1 February 2016, is former business executive Arne Schönbohm, who took over the presidency from Michael Hange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Moss (hacker)</span> American computer security expert

Jeff Moss, also known as Dark Tangent, is an American hacker, computer and internet security expert who founded the Black Hat and DEF CON computer security conferences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Schmidt</span> American computer security expert

Howard Anthony Schmidt was a partner with Tom Ridge in Ridge Schmidt Cyber LLC, a consultancy company in the field of cybersecurity. He was the Cyber-Security Coordinator of the Obama Administration, operating in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. He announced his retirement from that position on May 17, 2012, effective at the end of the month.

Melissa Hathaway is a leading expert in cyberspace policy and cybersecurity. She served under two U.S. presidential administrations from 2007 to 2009, including more than 8 months at the White House, spearheading the Cyberspace Policy Review for President Barack Obama after leading the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) for President George W. Bush. She is President of Hathaway Global Strategies LLC, a Senior Fellow and member of the Board of Regents at Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Canada, and a non-resident Research Fellow at the Kosciuszko Institute in Poland. She was previously a Senior Adviser at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Cyber Command</span> Unified combatant command of the United States Armed Forces responsible for cyber operations

United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It unifies the direction of cyberspace operations, strengthens DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrates and bolsters DoD's cyber expertise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marietje Schaake</span> Dutch politician

Maria Renske "Marietje" Schaake is a Dutch politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands between 2009 and 2019. She is a member of Democrats 66, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.

Cyberwarfare is the use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization, especially the deliberate attacking of information systems for strategic or military purposes. As a major developed economy, the United States is highly dependent on the Internet and therefore greatly exposed to cyber attacks. At the same time, the United States has substantial capabilities in both defense and power projection thanks to comparatively advanced technology and a large military budget. Cyber warfare presents a growing threat to physical systems and infrastructures that are linked to the internet. Malicious hacking from domestic or foreign enemies remains a constant threat to the United States. In response to these growing threats, the United States has developed significant cyber capabilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dmitri Alperovitch</span> American computer security industry executive (born 1980)

Dmitri Mikhailovich Alperovitch is an American think-tank founder, investor, philanthropist, podcast host and former computer security industry executive. He is the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a geopolitics think-tank in Washington, D.C., and a co-founder and former chief technology officer of CrowdStrike. Alperovitch is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Russia who came to the United States in 1994 with his family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyber Security Agency</span>

The Cyber Security Agency (CSA) is a government agency under the Prime Minister's Office, but is managed by the Ministry of Communications and Information of the Government of Singapore. It provides centralised oversight of national cyber security functions and works with sector leads to protect Singapore's Critical Information Infrastructure (CII), such as the energy and banking sectors. Formed on 1 April 2015, the agency also engages with various industries and stakeholders to heighten cyber security awareness as well as to ensure the development of Singapore's cyber security. It is headed by the Commissioner of Cybersecurity, David Koh.

The President's Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity is a Presidential Commission formed on April 13, 2016, to develop a plan for protecting cyberspace, and America's economic reliance on it. The commission released its final report in December 2016. The report made recommendations regarding the intertwining roles of the military, government administration and the private sector in providing cyber security. Chairman Donilon said of the report that its coverage "is unusual in the breadth of issues" with which it deals.

The National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) is part of the Cybersecurity Division of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It acts to coordinate various aspects of the U.S. federal government's cybersecurity and cyberattack mitigation efforts through cooperation with civilian agencies, infrastructure operators, state and local governments, and international partners.

Kiersten Todt is the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). She previously served as the managing director of the Cyber Readiness Institute as well as a resident scholar at the University of Pittsburgh in Washington, DC with the Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security and was appointed for this position on June 1, 2017. Before taking this position, she worked under Barack Obama in the national cybersecurity commission. She was the president and partner with Liberty Group Ventures, LLC. She has been a partner with Good Harbor Consulting. She was cognizant of the organization's North America crisis management practice. 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency</span> Agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsible for cybersecurity and infrastructure protection across all levels of government, coordinating cybersecurity programs with U.S. states, and improving the government's cybersecurity protections against private and nation-state hackers.

The Cyber Safety Review Board was established by the United States Secretary of Homeland Security. Modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board, it will meet in cases of significant cybersecurity incidents. The board's creation was announced upon President Joe Biden's signing of Executive Order 14028 on May 12, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of the National Cyber Director</span>

The Office of the National Cyber Director is an agency in the United States Government statutorily responsible for advising the President of the United States on matters related to cybersecurity. It was established in 2021.

Operational collaboration is a cyber resilience framework that leverages public-private partnerships to reduce the risk of cyber threats and the impact of cyberattacks on United States cyberspace. This operational collaboration framework for cyber is similar to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)'s National Preparedness System which is used to coordinate responses to natural disasters, terrorism, chemical and biological events in the physical world.

References

  1. ↑ "Inside the Cyberspace Solarium Commission". National Security Institute. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "The legacy of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission". FCW. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Cyberspace Solarium Disbands, to Reform as Nonprofit". GovTech. January 4, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Homepage". CSC 2.0. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Geller, Eric. "Politico Pro Q&A: Cyberspace Solarium Commission co-chairs Sen. Angus King and Rep. Mike Gallagher on the group's legacy". Politico . Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  6. ↑ "CSC Final Report" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "Cyberspace Solarium Commission". Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Commissioners". Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.