The Biden administration on Monday launched a new strategy aimed at fostering solidarity with allies and partners worldwide to enhance cybersecurity efforts amid rising threats posed by U.S. adversaries, including China and Russia.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the United States “will work with any country or actor that is committed to developing and deploying technology that is open, safe, and secure.”
“We are in a pivotal period of international relations, characterized by acute competition between nations, and shared global challenges like climate change, food and health security, and inclusive economic growth,” Mr. Blinken stated.
“Technology will play an increasingly critical role in addressing these challenges,” he added.
The International Cyberspace & Digital Policy Strategy identifies four areas of action: promoting a secure and resilient digital ecosystem, aligning rights-respecting digital approaches with international partners, forming coalitions to counter cyberspace threats, and strengthening international partner digital and cyber capacity.
Mr. Blinken said that the core of the strategy is building “digital solidarity,” which will involve offering “mutual assistance to the victims of malicious cyber activity and other digital harms.”
“We are rallying coalitions of governments, businesses, and civil society to shape the digital revolution at every level of the technology ’stack'—from building subsea cables and telecommunication networks, to deploying cloud services and trustworthy artificial intelligence, to promoting rights-respecting data governance and norms of responsible state behavior,” he stated.
Announcing the strategy at the RSA cybersecurity conference on May 6, Mr. Blinken said that “some of our strategic rivals are working toward a very different goal.”
“They’re using digital technologies and genomic data collection to surveil their people, to repress human rights,” the secretary of state said in his speech published by the White House.
Lawmaker Weighs In
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said the strategy was designed to counter rising threats from America’s adversaries, Russia, the Chinese Communist Party, and cybercriminals.Mr. McCaul lauded the administration’s strategy but emphasized the need for action. He called on the administration to “use the tools Congress has given it to thwart the enemies of freedom.”
Mr. McCaul, who led the Cyber Diplomacy Act to create the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, warned that cyber attacks by adversaries “are becoming more complex and aggressive every single day.”
“Cyber criminals and the unholy alliance of China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran want to leverage nascent technologies to accomplish their malign goals,” the Republican said in a statement.
“It has been over a decade since the U.S has had an articulated global cyber strategy, and I’m pleased to see the administration taking this threat seriously by releasing this report,” he added.
“Our adversaries understand the strategic value in targeting the DIB,” David McKeown, the Pentagon’s deputy chief information officer for cybersecurity, told reporters on March 28.
