Peter Singer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said it’s “absolutely vital that we demystify” cybersecurity in order to effectively operate in this realm. Singer described five themes from his new book, “Cybersecurity and Cyberwar: What Everyone Needs to Know,” at a Feb. 18 Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event in Arlington, Va. The idea that this is a “domain for the nerds” is still prevalent and we must overcome that stereotype to grasp the importance of cybersecurity, he said. Knowledge, people, incentives, history, and cyber hygiene all matter when it comes to understanding this realm, said Singer. Finding out a person’s motivations is crucial to understanding why something is or isn’t happening in cybersecurity. He also emphasized that cybersecurity is a “collective responsibility” and that basic steps of “cyber hygiene,” such as keeping unclassified data away from classified computers, would go a long way.
The Air National Guardsman who was arrested last year for sharing hundreds of top secret and classified documents to online chatrooms was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on Nov. 12 after pleading guilty to several charges this March.