Ted G. Lewis, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, states in his bookCritical Infrastructure Protection in Homeland Security: Defending a Networked Nation, “trusted computing depends on human processes as much, if not more, than on technology.” This is a statement that many cybersecurity leaders could get behind.
Obviously, a technology is only as secure as are the people that work in it. In many ways, a cybersecurity failure can be likened to a counterintelligence (CI) failure in that both deal with sensitive material either from a technical or human intelligence discipline, yet are based upon human failings rather than an unsecured firewall or an unlocked fence. However, technical infrastructures are integral to the effective and proper functioning of a nation-state, specifically the United States. IT assets are responsible for how nations communicate; deal in stocks and the financial market; and operate governments. Because of cyberspace’s importance in public and private life, it is imperative that it be protected against threats.