Contribution of Private Firms
Although the idea of the government regulating cyber security was initially seen as an immature move in various quarters, there is no doubt that it has considerably been a success. For instance, the number of reported cyber crimes has tremendously reduced over the last two years. This is not unique, considering that the cyber security professional that was contracted by the government to protect the public and private institutions has been able to come up with better mechanisms aimed at identifying and locating the criminals. It was never possible before, making the criminals go scot free with all the losses that they cause to the general public. In fact, the world is slowly moving towards this approach as it looks to be the only way out of the cyber crime risks. For instance, cyber technocrats from Australia were recently in the country to study the existing plan that the national cyber security company is applying to protect the general public. Although it has not worked to the best of public expectations, the world is quite proud of it. That’s certainly a better reason that the idea should not be dropped, but improved to seal the loopholes that currently exist so that it can best serve the public (Acquisti & Tsai, 2009). According to National Security Intelligence System, the rate of cyber crime has been on a steady decline in the last two years, dropping from 54% to a meager 34%. This is quite a success considering that the plan was simply a trial model. In fact, cyber professionals propose that the president should act swiftly to broaden the mandate of the cyber security professional as that would make his work more efficient and un-limiting. For instance, he should be given the powers to manage and operate the government’s technology policy especially on matters of privacy. This he would adequately do by securing the government’s networks as well as helping it monitor its communications. It would not only put in place a new error in computer communication, but also ensure that incidents like that of Wikileaks do not recur in the future. As such, gains made by the government in terms of foreign policy would not have to be eroded by simple acts of negligence (Fogg, 2008).
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The new found public private partnership in cyber security has certainly been of a great impact on national security. For example, private companies have been able to properly take control of confidentiality of the people they deal with. As such, the number of people complaining that their security or privacy has been breached by a cyber crime case on a private firm has considerably reduced. Although such cases still exist in the country, the reality is that public security has tremendously improved in the cyber space (Kirby, 2001). This is due to the fact that the cases reported are only selected cases that affect a few citizens and not the general population. In this regard, the government has been able to identify the criminals, pursue them and bring them to book, at least most of the time. Besides, cyber criminals have not been lucky enough to manipulate the computer systems of major financial institutions where public interest is greatest. The selected cases have been quite rampant with small firms who may not be able to fully implement the security plan due to financial constraints. However, the government has significantly helped them in implementing the plan to the extent that only minor security breaches have been reported in the recent past (McCormick, 2003).
Meanwhile, privacy advocates have registered their worries with the government efforts to expand cyber security plans to all companies in the country. Their argument is that there are private companies that are able to efficiently manage their cyber space and as such do not need to be incorporated into the national plan. Although this argument is quite realistic, it may not be absolutely true that they will be able to protect public interest in their companies. Therefore, the concerned companies should be encouraged to join the national plan and help improve it to their standards. They will not only serve themselves, but also the broader public as the national cyber space would certainly be much safer Cavoukian, 1995).
In conclusion, the regulation of cyber security of private firms by the government has been a hot subject in the national arena. Various stakeholders have called it a flop even as some call it the only way to a watertight national security. However, there is a general agreement that some steps have been made in the last few years. It would therefore be perfectly in order if the government focuses on improving the national plan rather than abandoning it. That would be the only way the nation will defeat cyber criminals and a better day will come.