Improving Our Nation’s Cybersecurity Through the Public-Private Partnership

The cybersecurity of our critical infrastructure must be a national priority. However, the complexity and interconnected nature of the Internet, and the ever‐evolving and sophisticated threat environment, put cybersecurity beyond the reach of any single entity: to secure our critical infrastructure, companies must work together, government must coordinate its efforts, and industry and government must collaborate.

To that end, many government and industry organizations have made considerable investments over the years to develop a strong public‐private partnership. Those investments are paying off: this paper details many of the important cybersecurity achievements that the partnership has delivered.

But more can be done. This paper proposes building on this strong track record, by expanding the existing partnership within the framework of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. Specifically, we make a series of recommendations that build upon the conclusions of President Obama’s Cyberspace Policy Review.