About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

4 J. Nat'l Sec. L. & Pol'y 13 (2010)
The Past, Present, and Future of Cybersecurity

handle is hein.journals/jnatselp4 and id is 15 raw text is: The Past, Present, and Future of Cybersecurity Walter Gary Sharp, Sr.' Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only? . . . Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends .... But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me. The cyber threat is the most pervasive and pernicious threat facing the United States today. Its mention does not immediately conjure visions of the catastrophic horrors that would result from an attack using a weapon of mass destruction, but today's cyber threat is a very real and present danger. As of September 14, 2009, more than 10,450,000 U.S. residents had been victimized by identity theft in 2009 alone, and that number increases by one victim each second.2 Fifteen million victims will lose more than fifty billion dollars each year.3 Specific threats such as identity and consumer fraud allow us to quantify and understand part of the cyber threat in terms that allow the U.S. government, corporate America,' consumer groups, and individuals6 to take preventive action. However, the growing number of victims would clearly suggest we have not effectively solved the problem, even if we are starting to comprehend its scope. The cyber threat to U.S. national security, economic security, and public health and safety is far more amorphous and less susceptible of comprehension than its kinetic analogs. Popular media productions such as 247 and Live Free or Die Hard' have depicted sophisticated cyber intrusions that intentionally caused aircraft collisions, a nuclear power plant meltdown, a compromise of White House security and communications, * Senior Associate Deputy General Counsel for Intelligence, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Defense; Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center; and Judge Advocate, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired). Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Defense or any governmental agency or civilian institution. 1. CHARLES DICKENS, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, at Stave 4(1843), available at www. stormfax.com/dickens.htm. 2. See 2009 Security Breaches and Database Breaches, www.identitytheft.info/ breaches09.aspx. 3. See Identity Theft Victim Statistics, www.identitytheft. info/victims.aspx. 4. See, e.g., Fed. Trade Comm'n Identity Theft Website, www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/ microsites/idtheft. 5. See, e.g., John P. Bonora, Shadow Wars: Managing an Effective Identity Theft Prevention Program, ABA BANK COMPLIANCE, Mar.-Apr. 2009, at 8. 6. See, e.g., www.identitytheft.info. 7. See Fox Broadcasting Company 24 Website, www.fox. com/24. 8. See The Internet Movie Database, Live Free or Die Hard, www.imdb.com/ title/tt0337978/. 13

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most