The Calm Before the Storm

[Commentary] The loss of personal information and related criminal fraud, intolerable as they are, are the least threatening face of electronic insecurity.

The U.S. military's secret network is penetrated. Americans' corporate pockets are being picked clean of the intellectual property that makes the United States tick. And the electricity grid that keeps the lights on and makes everything move is dangerously insecure. Important conclusions for public and corporate policy follow from this vulnerable state of affairs.

First, cyber insecurity has operational consequences.

Second, this risk cannot be eliminated -- but it can be reduced and managed.

Third, companies that wait for the government to "solve" their own security problems do so at their peril.

Fourth, in a world in which everything cannot be protected, companies must determine for themselves what intellectual property and physical assets to isolate and safeguard.