national security and government

Cyber hacking and threats are now being discussed as a national security issue in the United States. Cybercrime has recently escalated in the world, challenging the sovereign state's powers by revealing private, critical, and sensitive information to unauthorized persons. The attackers target the country's economy by targeting corporations in order to obtain trade secrets and sensitive business knowledge. The FBI has stated that cybercrime is growing in both size and reach, and it has advised that urgent action be taken (Garcia et al. 252). Various proposals have been made to address the problems of cybercrime, but a proper consensus is yet to be reached. However, a collaboration of the various security agencies and the regular disruption of the nation’s infrastructure have taken the lead.

Solutions to Cybercrime

Collaboration

Different security agencies should collaborate with both the public and the private sectors in a joint effort of identifying potential loopholes that the criminals would target and design ways of countering such attacks. All persons who interact with the infrastructure should be allowed to participate in enabling them to identify and deter the misuse of technology. There should be a centralized regional coordination unit where commands for affected region are done from a central point. It ensures quick response, non-duplication and fewer conflicts of information given.

Disruption of the Infrastructure

Having a constant set up of the infrastructure heightens the chances of cyber-attacks. Regular changes to codes and hosts would ensure lesser chances of code identification. The automation of such codes would minimize human use hence reducing targets on human and systems.

Even though the two solutions have pros and cons, collaboration could be the best-sought idea. It will not only ensure all stakeholders are involved but also create a bond between the different levels of the state. However, caution should be taken in determining who is involved in the partnerships to avoid having the criminals forming part of the teams.

Roles of the Government in Cybersecurity

The different levels of government have various roles to play in curbing cyber-crime. National security is a shared responsibility for the federal, state and local governments in fighting cyber-crime (Boes & Leukfeldt 185). The different levels are responsible for maintaining a strategic partnership in collaboration with all the stakeholders including the Department of Homeland Security and the private sectors among others. The local government is responsible for the collection of information from the residents on the ground. The state government is responsible for monitoring and policing the social sites to ensure that the exchanged contents are suitable. The federal government is responsible for maintenance of the FBI squad who are the main personnel handling cybersecurity. It implies that the government should provide enough personnel and perfect infrastructure to execute the operations at various levels in curbing cyber threats.

The executive, judicial and legislative branches of the federal government play different roles in national security too. While the legislative makes laws, the executive implements and the judicial interpret these laws. Therefore, the three branches are responsible for creating, interpreting and implementing the laws that are necessary for curbing cyber-crimes. The laws should be binding on everyone and should ensure that the challenges of cybersecurity are reduced.

Conclusion

Laws have been enacted and the FBI unit has been operational over time. However, with the development of infrastructure and advanced technology, the total mitigation of the same has remained a challenge to the state. Issues of national security have raised debates seeking solutions on the way forward. Even though not fully supported, collaboration and a centralized operating system would be necessary for addressing national security.



Works Cited

Boes, S., and E. R. Leukfeldt. "Fighting Cybercrime: A Joint Effort." Cyber-Physical Security. Springer International Publishing, 2017, 185-203.

Garcia, Michael, David Forscey, and Timothy Blute. "Beyond the Network: A Holistic Perspective on State Cybersecurity Governance." Neb. L. Rev. 96, 2017, 252.