Expert says U.S. must take lead on securing cyberspace

The United States must take a stronger international leadership role in securing cyberspace, including holding other countries accountable for their citizens' actions online, according to a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Report author and CFR international affairs fellow Robert Knake argues the United States must push back against China, Russia and other countries that are seeking to establish tightly-controlled versions of the Internet in order to combat cybercrime, industrial espionage and cyber warfare. Knake argues the plethora of threats online makes state control of the Web seem increasingly attractive to Western nations, which is why the U.S. should champion openness, innovation and limited government intervention.

"These attributes make the network flexible, so that new uses can be developed rapidly, and scalable, so that millions of new users and devices can be connected each year, expanding the free flow of ideas and the reach of international commerce," Knake writes. "Addressing problems of security in cyberspace at the expense of these attributes would not serve U.S. national interests."

In addressing those security challenges, Knake argues the U.S. should move towards holding other nations accountable for the actions of their citizens online. China in particular is known to host thousands of hackers and servers used to penetrate the systems of American government institutions and corporations.

"Though the United States cannot expect countries to prevent all malicious behavior, it can expect them to secure their networks to a reasonable standard, pass laws outlawing international cyber crime, and have mechanisms in place to act on requests for assistance in shutting down attacks, and investigating and prosecuting them," Knake writes.

In order to gain international cooperation, Knake says the U.S. must first focus on domestic cyber threats by cleaning up its national network and prioritizing investigations of cyber attacks that involve foreign victims. He also says the private sector must be given a stronger voice on these issues to better coordinate their positions and aid in creating new cyber policy.

Knake also calls for increased diplomatic activity on cybercrime, specifically the creation of a new bureau within the State Department that would focus on cyber affairs and international engagement. He said the U.S. should also pursue treaties that would protect the core functions of the Internet and ban distributed denial-of-service attacks.