The Unhackable Internet Analyzes Three Decades of Mistakes and the Solutions Available to Build Internet Security

It's already happened. Ask the people of Estonia, Ukraine, Brazil and other countries about the dislocations and anxiety they endured when banking services disappeared throughout their countries.

These threats are real and staring us in the face today. Every component of a total cyber collapse of the U.S. financial infrastructure has played out in separate incidents around the country. There is no doubt that hostile nation-states possess the capacity to combine those components to disrupt or destroy the operations of U.S. financial services companies, government agencies, securities exchanges, and payments systems.

The damage from such an attack would be enormous. Consider the financial loss and human anxiety caused by the brief shutdown of Colonial Pipeline in May 2021. That same year, $14 billion of cryptocurrencies was stolen from supposedly "immutable" blockchain networks. That is likely more than the amount stolen from all banks from the beginning of time.

It was shocking to discover that the United We need to get the attention of our leaders on these issues. Governments exist to protect citizens from people that lie, cheat, and kill their way to wealth and power. And those people are increasingly gaining access to powerful technologies at a fraction of the cost of traditional weapons, changing the nature and scope of what leaders must defend against.

For example, whoever dominates quantum computing will have the ability to either re-encrypt and secure the world's digital data, or decrypt and steal it all. Understanding that, China is stealing encrypted data today which it intends to decrypt when it dominates quantum computing tomorrow.

As the book details, the United States has wasted 25 years that should have been used to correct the trajectory of cyberspace. The US must lead a coalition of democratic nations before the world slips closer to techno-totalitarianism. We should never have to see the lights go out and our president apologizing and blaming her predecessors for not acting sooner. This book is a warning.

Internet insecurity could eventually cost Americans their money, freedom, and even their country if leaders do not anticipate and defend against it. Such a cyber attack or series of attacks would freeze the country's power and financial services infrastructures and create panic. I don't believe the term 'a digital Pearl Harbor' is overblown.

Experts agree that malware, logic bombs, worms, and viruses have already been inserted in many critical infrastructure networks around the country. The only question is when will they be triggered, by whom, and for what purpose.

A hostile nation may want to control those systems rather than destroy them. A criminal cartel may want to skim a penny off every transaction. A terrorist hacker may be willing to destroy basic financial infrastructures and make money disappear. Whatever the case, an attack like this could devastate the country and usher in a new form of cyberwar in which there will be no winners.

The U.S. must do a better job of limiting the use of Chinese products and components that raise security concerns and, alongside other nations of the world, excommunicate China from cyberspace unless it is willing to abide by standardized rules that include strong authentication of people rather than machines and meaningful governance.

The United States invited China into the same cyberspace that it occupies, hoping that it would lead to democratization of the country. Instead, China restricted online access, stole U.S. intellectual property, and attacked networks.

Today, China seeks to dominate the super sciences, including AI, 5Q, and quantum computing to build a repressive surveillance state to prevent democratization. 300 million facial recognition cameras work in conjunction with smartphones, scraped online data, social media, and oversized local police forces to create massive databases that produce social scores on Chinese citizens. A bad score can cause citizens to be sent to a "reeducation camp."

Fixing the internet through strong authentication, governance, and enforcement will admittedly be inconvenient and annoying for the average person. But we need to make our online existence particularly within critical infrastructures-look and feel more like our analog existence where security is protected by locked doors, borders, and police. Cyberspace can be made safe, but it will require better identification of whoever is roaming its highways and a "Zero Trust" security approach throughout every facet of a network or application. This may
slow online experiences, but it is a small tradeoff to make for the security of our money, personal information, and way of life.

Senator Mark Warner founded the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, and Senator Angus King and Representative Mike Gallagher co-chaired the Cyberspace Solarium Commission Report. Representatives Jim Langevin and Michael McCaul founded the House Cybersecurity Caucus. They understand this issue.

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission Report issued in 2020 was a stark warning to the country and Congress of the threats that internet insecurity is creating, But not enough politicians understand technology or the dangers it brings.

If I held public office, I would urge my colleagues to get as much technology education as possible, underscoring the need to balance its benefits with the increasing frequency and scale of the threats that it creates. Second, I would urge the creation of an international coalition of legislators to build a consensus of democratic nations. Third, I would draft legislation to make the internet a safe space through strong authentication, governance, and enforcement, and to develop new private secure networks.

Zuckerberg's mantra has led to the creation of virtual anarchies that harvest enormous amounts of data that is then sliced, diced, sold, and resold in ways that would shock most users. Mark Zuckerberg acted cavalierly in downplaying the risks of an ungoverned internet and effectively fostered a data-free-for-all. Few executives launch products hoping they work as intended without fully understanding the risks they pose to their shareholders and customers. We are living with the consequences now.