Companies such as Google and Apple have more power than government to set policy on issues like privacy norms, according to the former director of the National Security Agency.
“If [Google co-founder] Sergei Brin and [Apple chairman] Eric Schmidt decide to move the line on what defines appropriate privacy in the cyberdomain,” said retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, “that probably has more of an impact in the real sense than [Defense Secretary] Ash Carter trying to make a similar decision.”
Besides running the NSA, Hayden also led the Central Intelligence Agency under President George W. Bush. He made the remarks as part of the Billington Cybersecurity Conference held in Washington on Thursday.
“The power of companies like Google to set in what under other circumstances we would call ‘policy,'” Hayden said, means they are critical in ensuring future cybersecurity, and that government should get out of the way.
“I have taken to now saying, the main effort for American cyberdefense is the private sector. And the role of government is to do those things that only government can do, and then for the other 98 percent of the problems we have is to be an enabler for the private sector to be the best that we can be,” Hayden said.
One example of government’s role, Hayden added, is defending companies against commercial espionage by imposing sanctions on those that engage in it. “It’s very hard to confine our responses to the cyberdomain,” he said, pointing to recent breaches of U.S. companies by hackers traced to China.
“They’re doing this for commercial profit. Make sure your response is in the commercial lane. Remove the incentives to do this … to me it’s a natural,” Hayden said.
The Obama administration has considered having the Treasury Department impose sanctions on Chinese companies suspected of such espionage. The issue has been a significant topic of discussion leading up to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington this month.
