Lessons From Solar Winds
The annual State of the Net conference recently held a discussion on “Solar Winds of Cybersecurity” with cybersecurity experts including R Street Institute Director of Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats Tatyana Bolton. Panelists discussed how the Biden administration should approach cybersecurity, what the new Congress means for cyber defense after the SolarWinds hack and what private sector collaboration to expect in 2021.
The panel was optimistic that preventing the next major cyberattack is doable if the federal government adopts some of the recommendations in the Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s 2020 report. “Building a risk management cycle that works well, establishing a Bureau of Cybersecurity Statistics… developing secure cloud notifications, all of these things are what could have prevented something like this from happening and we are hoping to move forward and put these into the next year’s NDAA or a standalone bill so we can be prepared next time around,” said Bolton, who previously served as the senior policy director for the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission.
There was also hope that the new administration and Congress might help implement policy that better prepares for future cyber threats. “The leadership in the White House, someone focusing on cybersecurity day after day, waking up in the morning thinking about cybersecurity, that is one of the critical pieces that was missing after the removal of the cybersecurity coordinator in the last White House,” she said.
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Bolton also expressed her desire for more inclusive representation in the cybersecurity field, claiming that both industry and government miss fresh perspectives when consulting the same pool of experts. “If we want to think more like the adversary, if we want to move away from the way in which we’ve been doing cybersecurity, we need to include more people and diverse views,” she said.
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R Street Institute Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats Director Tatyana Bolton joined “The Solar Winds of Cybersecurity: Biden and the 117th Congress Need a Unified Strategy” panel at the State of the Net Conference. Panel highlights, including quotes from Bolton, were featured by POLITICO’s Morning Cybersecurity (paywall) and S&P Global Market Intelligence. Bolton also joined a discussion with the Harvard Kennedy School Cyber Project, “Analyzing the new National Cyber Director role.”
Senior Fellow Bryson Bort released Episode 7 of the Hack the Plant podcast, “Critical Infrastructure Protection & ICS with Dale Peterson.”
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R Street Institute Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats Senior Fellow Gary Corn’s Lawfare op-ed on SolarWinds was quoted in the Axios article, “In cyber espionage, U.S. is both hunted and hunter.”
Director Tatyana Bolton and Senior Research Associate Mary Brooks authored the piece, “China Eyes Reunification With Taiwan,” where recent actions in Hong Kong were discussed in connection with possible security implications for Taiwan. Bolton also discussed the potential for the new National Cyber Director role with The Record.
Resident Senior Fellow Paul Rosenzweig authored “The Capitol Insurrection and Pineapples on Pizza” for the Journal of National Security Law & Policy and joined The Pete Kaliner Show to discuss four reasons why the Capitol riot occurred.
