Evolution of American Cyber Security Policies

765
DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2019-63-10-51-58

P. Sharikov (pasha.sharikov@gmail.com),
Institute for USA and Canada Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, 2/3, Khlebnyi Per., Moscow, 121069, Russian Federation;
Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
 

Abstract. The article is devoted to the evolution of the American national cyber security strategies during the two recent decades. Ever since the late 1990s, cyber security has become one of the top national security priorities. However, every presidential administration had different approaches to ensuring cyber security. Theoretically, every cyber threat has at least three elements, each of which has to be considered to work out a robust cyber security strategy: the source of attack, the target of attack and the means of attack. The W. J. Clinton administration prioritized cyber threats only by the end of 1990s, and the major agency responsible for cyber security was the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which meant that the government mostly countered criminal threats to commercial sector. G. W. Bush administration’s top national security priority was countering terrorism; hence, cyber security was integrated into most of the antiterrorist activities. National Security Strategy declared preventive action as a general approach to antiterrorist activities, which is why the government needed to collect and analyze a lot of personal data. The general government agency responsible for cyber security became Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the cyber security policies included many legislative initiatives comprising the USA PATRIOT Act, new Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA), etc. Barack Obama’s cyber security strategy was part of the globalist agenda aimed at building international partnerships, as opposed to the unipolar world (the strategy of a previous administration). The Obama administration made an effort to implement deterrence policies to counter cyber threats. The general agency to deter cyber threats was the new CYBERCOM, created as a part of STRATCOM. Obama administration had to adopt a lighter legislation regulating government control over information – for example Freedom Act. Donald Trump’s cyber security agenda includes the development of offensive cyber capabilities, as outlined in the White House and Department of Defense cyber security strategies. While the distinction between offence and defense in cyberspace is very vague, obviously Trump’s strategy is aimed at countering American adversaries. Russian-American relations are of special concern in this regard, because the new technologies are becoming a part of a new arms race. And while the traditional arms control regime is collapsing, it triggers a number of destabilizing trends in contemporary international relations.

Keywords: USA, cyber security policies, Donald Trump administration, Russian-American relations, information security, cyber security 


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For citation:
Sharikov P. Evolution of American Cyber Security Policies. World Eñonomy and International Relations, 2019, vol. 63, no. 10, pp. 51-58. https://doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2019-63-10-51-58



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