Cybersecurity, like online sales taxes, is an enduring issue on the congressional tech policy agenda, but after another year of hearings debating the subject, 2013 ends with no significant new security laws on the books, leaving legislative measures to improve the sharing of threat information between the public and private sectors or strengthen the government's role in safeguarding critical infrastructure for a later date.
That inaction comes amid a widespread acknowledgement among policy makers and industry leaders that the breadth and sophistication of the threats continue to grow. The administration received something of a wake-up call in November, however, when a presidential advisory committee delivered its of the government's cybersecurity posture. That report found that the "federal government rarely follows accepted best practices," recommending that agencies phase out antiquated technology, streamline regulations improve the process of sharing threat information, among other proposals.
"Cybersecurity will not be achieved by a collection of static precautions that, if taken by government and industry organizations, will make them secure," the committee concluded. "Rather, it requires a set of processes that continuously couple information about an evolving threat to defensive reactions and responses."
Kenneth Corbin is a Washington, D.C.-based writer who covers government and regulatory issues for CIO.com.
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This story, "10 stories that shaped tech policy in 2013" was originally published by CIO.