Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 01/2013

Transatlantic cybersecurity: The only winning move is to play with others

Charly Salonius-Pasternak, Jarno Limnéll

December 2012

Finnish Institute for International Affairs

Abstract

Cybersecurity concerns everyone, and is everyone’s responsibility. It is a genuine example of a society-wide security issue. The United States is ahead of Europe in discussing and integrating (military) cybersecurity into its foreign and security policies. For the US, the biggest challenges at the moment are: updating legal frameworks, creating cyber rules of engagement for the military, building cyber deterrence and clarifying the cybersecurity roles and responsibilities of government and private sector actors. Cooperation at national and international levels is integral to improving cybersecurity. This includes updating international and domestic legal frameworks to ensure that state actions are accountable, and to protect citizens from wanton strikes at critical infrastructure. Governments must hold private sector partners accountable, and through partnerships ensure that societal cybersecurity is not overshadowed by private interests – public-private partnerships have a crucial role to play in this.