By Jeffrey Carr
Bolstering security measures to foil the next attack, not retaliation, should be the U.S. government’s priority.
The Office of Personnel Management breach – the worst in U.S. history – is a graphic testament to the White House’s ongoing inability to identify and secure its most critical data.
In this case, it lost control of incredibly sensitive and detailed information on federal employees in a breach for which China is the “leading suspect,” according to CIA chief James Clapper. That’s a bounty worth many millions of dollars to foreign intelligence services. But even if Beijing is to blame, the way to fix the administration’s cybersecurity problem – and to prevent future data heists that rival the OPM breach – isn’t to retaliate against a foreign government.
After all, we are living in a world in which this kind of digital espionage is the new normal. It’s the kind of thing that the National Security Agency wishes it could do against China. That is, if the spy agency isn’t already doing it.
Sure, President Barack Obama is upset about the shameful state of security in place at OPM, and has made limited efforts to correct security problems at government agencies in a 30-day “Cybersecurity Sprint.” But exacting some kind of diplomatic or economic toll against China seems like a key play in the Obama administration’s plans. According to unnamed officials quoted in The New York Times, Obama staff members are considering a range of options meant “to disrupt and deter what our adversaries are doing in cyberspace.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat