Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 05/2014

Cyber Threat and Response

James Andrew Lewis

March 2014

Center for Strategic and International Studies

Abstract

Everyone knows that the Internet has changed how we interact, do business, and share information. The Internet can be an “innovation engine,” but the same engine of innovation drives cyber threats to change faster than cyber defenses can react. Cyber threats are complex, dynamic, and network defenses have trouble keeping up with them. The Internet’s original design focused on reliable connectivity, not security. This has not really changed. A quick recap of the situation is that the most devices connected to the Internet are vulnerable, many existing approaches to network security—“black listing,” signature-based defenses—are becoming outdated, and most cybersecurity strategies are inadequate. There is a widening gap between offensive and defensive capabilities. Security has not kept up with the threat.