Judging from the recent rhetoric, we seem to be in a state of cyberwar coexistence with China. What are the risks? What role can Hawaii play?
The White House recently demanded that China stop the theft of data from American networks and agree to "acceptable norms of behavior."
China denied accusations that its army had been hacking American corporations, and called for "rules and cooperation" on cyberespionage.
In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said cyberattacks on our grid or financial and transportation systems would be seen as acts of war, justifying pre-emptive defensive measures.
The Pentagon has set up a cybercommand to defend American military networks and respond with its own. Homeland Security is detailed to defend the nonmilitary sectors.
A coordinated attack on critical services could effectively upend the American economy. As our dependency on the Internet grows to near absolute proportions, the damage cyberwar can do also grows to absolute proportions. We could wake up and find our world undone, without lights or phones, credit cards or the ability to buy food or get medical care. Civil order would be the next casualty.
Even in an all-out cyberwar, people are not likely to be killed in a cyberattack, but killed as collateral damage in the state of pandemonium to follow.
Hawaii should be concerned. Our isolation makes us highly dependent on the Internet to connect the islands and the mainland. This makes us especially vulnerable to cyberwar.
Also, since Hawaii has so many bases, it is a high-quality cyberwar target. A cyberattack on these bases is likely to have secondary impact.
Like global warming, what can Hawaii, only one isolated island state, do to ameliorate cyberwar?
We should make sure that we have up-to-date Internet security systems for our power, water, telecom and transportation infrastructure.
We should find ways to get Hawaii businesses to learn about and improve their Internet security. We need them to become expert and proactive.
We should support efforts to develop the tech sector (like Karl Fooks’ Hi Growth legislation to fund startups) and to step up government Internet security (like Sonny Bhagowalia’s project to upgrade state computer systems).
We should encourage the university to research cyberattacks on Hawaii targets, to assist the cybercommand if possible and to assist the local community in improving our Internet security.
We should organize international conferences to allow cyber players to discuss their activities, express their motivations and explore solutions.
Relative to the risks we are exposed to, these are relatively inexpensive steps to achieve greater security and compensate for our vulnerability.
Just as cyberwar aggressors can be anywhere, cyberwar defenders can be anywhere, too. The isolation that makes Hawaii vulnerable is not a barrier to what could be heroic self-reliance.
———
Jay Fidell, a longtime business lawyer, founded ThinkTech Hawaii, a digital media company that reports on Hawaii’s tech and energy sectors of the economy. Reach him at fidell@lava.net.
