Cyber Week in Review: April 24, 2015

Here is a quick round-up of this week’s technology headlines and related stories you may have missed:

• Secretary of Defense Ash Carter released the Pentagon’s updated cyber strategy. According to the strategy, the Department of Defense (DoD) has three cyber missions: protect its own networks, "be prepared to defend the United States and its interests against cyberattacks of significant consequence," and provide "integrated cyber capabilities to support military operations" if directed by the President or the Secretary of Defense. It also puts a heavy emphasis on the need to deter adversaries in cyberspace, which is consistent with recent U.S. efforts to publically attribute cyber incidents to specific actors and the executive order on sanctioning malicious cyber actors. By comparison, the previous DoD cyber strategy, released in 2011, was vague on the threats facing the U.S. and sparse on details. It remains to be seen whether the U.S. deterrence strategy will work given that the nuclear deterrence lessons of the Cold War may not be applicable to cyberspace.
• A draft of the European Union’s digital single market strategy, scheduled for publication on May 6, was leaked. The European Commission argues that national laws with respect to copyright, data protection, competition, and telecommunication hamper the trade of goods and services online, and hinders the EU’s economic growth and competitiveness in the information and communications technology market. The strategy is also seen as Europe’s effort to compete with American tech companies, which dominate the European market.
• The U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills that would improve the ability of the government and private sector to share cyber threat indicators to protect their respective networks. Industry representatives applauded the move. Privacy advocates criticized both bills on the grounds that, among other things, the bills allow personal information to be shared too liberally and authorize the private sector to take "defensive measures" in response to an incident without prohibiting their ability to "hack back." House lawmakers will attempt to reconcile both bills to send a single version to the Senate for its consideration.
• Igor Shchyogolev, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, told Russian Internet regulator Roskomnadzor that Russians should have the right to be forgotten online. He said that Russians should have the ability to scrub their personal information online and criticized tech companies from collecting too much data on its users. While the Internet may soon forget what Russian users do online, it’s unlikely that the FSB ever will.