In the News: Potomac Institute is focus in Cyber Security Policy article - National Defense Magazine
Amb David Smith, Potomac Institute Cyber Center director, was featured as cybersecurity policy expert in an upcoming (June) article of National Defense Magazine. The article discusses the President's executive order aimed at guarding critical infrastructure in private hands from cyber-espionage and attacks:
“With the possible exception of the electricity grid, there are no bigger targets than the defense industrial base,” said former Ambassador David J. Smith, who now serves as the director of the Potomac Institute’s Cyber Center. The institute is an Arlington, Va.-based think tank.
The widespread theft of intellectual property from U.S. defense firms by hackers in China and Russia are operations of strategic importance, Smith said.
“We are talking about nation states targeting the U.S. government and the holders of its intellectual property,” he said. China and Russia are trying to equalize their technology with the United States and cannot do it on their own.
...The problem can be tackled without strict laws, Smith said. Industry is saying, “Please don’t give us a bunch of rules and regulations that are going to be outdated literally before the ink dries,” he said.
Technology moves fast. Congress moves slowly. It is best to have broad mandates, he said.
The legislation should set up performance-based goals companies should meet, and make them structure their solutions so their defenses against network intrusions can be tested. But they should be free to come up with their own ideas, Smith said.
There are some positive signs this year as lawmakers again try to pass cybersecurity legislation, he said.