Obama’s Free to Bomb Syria but Is Limited on Cybersecurity

As President Obama readies to strike the Syrian regime, it’s worth thinking about that other defense problem–cybersecurity–and what it says about Washington in the Obama era.

On Wednesday, the capital will be consumed by the March on Washington, as well it ought, and the looming battle with Syria–although not at the same time, for surely the missiles won’t fly at the very moment Obama salutes nonviolence.

But the country’s efforts to beef up cybersecurity are stymied, even after thefts at the National Security Agency and the Army have made Edward Snowden and Chelsea (nee Bradley) Manning emblems of computer vulnerability. This week shows why.

On Wednesday, while the marchers march and the Pentagon plans, a federal agency in Maryland called the National Institute for Standards and Technology will be issuing a draft report for cybersecurity standards–basically a list of best practices for businesses and other institutions to follow as they try to protect their networks.

SOURCE: nationaljournal.com