On 11/29/12, I heard the President of the American Bar Association (ABA) speak of a new national task force on cyber. In my opinion, this could be good or bad. The issues raised by cyberspace and especially cyber security will not be resolved by an army of lawyers marching on its own. Cyber is nearly ubiquitous, touching every aspect of human endeavor. Securing it is the ultimate interdisciplinary challenge. Lawyers, policy analysts and policymakers have a vital role in meeting this challenge, but we need technology-informed policy. Perhaps this task force will include members from many disciplines. It would be wrong to pre-judge the effort. Still, early signs are not promising. Just hours after the President’s remarks, the same ABA conference featured a panel discussion entitled “Emerging Technologies.” Not a single technologist was included.
What I would like to see is a joint announcement from the ABA and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, read I-Triple-E) that they have created a joint task force on cyber security and that they plan to invite experts from other disciplines to serve on it. That would be encouraging news. It’s time to think anew.
On a more encouraging note, that same ABA conference on 11/29 included an excellent keynote address by Steven R. Chabinsky, former Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division. Watch this space for much more detailed coverage of his remarks.
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