Tapping the private sector to help with offensive and defensive measures isn’t new for America’s military but we have to be very careful when it comes to the cyber domain, warned Adm. Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command.
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During a keynote at the SAP NS2 Solution Summit on Oct. 29, Rogers was asked whether private companies should employ offensive cyber tactics — or hacking back — particularly when facing nation states or persistent threats, and whether the government should encourage such actions.
If the government were to support those actions, it wouldn’t be the first time, he said.
“It’s not without historic precedence that when a nation-state lacks capacity, it historically has turned to the private sector,” he said, citing America’s reliance on privateers before the Navy was established. “We used letters of mark and reprisal … and said, ‘Look, if you go out and attack the British, we will not prosecute you as a pirate …’ The one proviso in the letter was it only applies to British ships.”
Similarly, there are discussions ongoing within the government today about creating legal means for the private sector to assist in the budding cyber war — acting as cyber privateers.
While it’s not unheard of, Rogers said he is “very leery” of moving in that direction.
“I still believe that the nation state is best posed to apply force,” he said. “And I worry about what the implications are if we turn that over to the private sector.”
He cited last year’s high-profile hack of Sony, attributed to the North Korean government. In that instance, it was important for the federal government to respond and demonstrate that, as a nation, those actions would not be tolerated.
Additionally, if the government had not taken a hard stance, private companies would likely take matters into their own hands, he said.
“It’s complicated enough already,” Rogers said. “It’s the Wild West in some ways already — we don’t need more gunslingers out in the street.”
