Biden administration rolls out international cybersecurity plan
The State Department’s international cyber strategy is aimed at setting goals for the US in leading on cyber norms at the United Nations, on AI issues and in countering China.
The Biden administration is rolling out a strategy Monday for how to build global cybersecurity cooperation, following years of stepped up threats from China, Russia and cybercriminals.
The State Department’s international cybersecurity strategy is the first articulated U.S. global cyber strategy in over a decade. If successful, it could elevate the U.S.’s role globally in countering cyber threats and creating global consensus on artificial intelligence, and position the U.S. against China in setting cybersecurity norms.
While the strategy will be formally unveiled by Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the RSA Conference in San Francisco on Monday afternoon, POLITICO was provided an early look at the document, which lays out four main areas of focus. These are promoting a secure digital ecosystem globally; upholding “rights-respecting” digital technology approaches with allied nations; building coalitions to counter malicious cyberattacks; and enhancing the cybersecurity resiliency of partner nations.
This final commitment includes a major focus on the State Department’s newly created Cyberspace and Digital Connectivity fund. The most recent round of federal appropriations signed into law by President Joe Biden gave the fund $50 million, intended to help allied nations enhance their cybersecurity. Before the fund’s creation, the U.S. gave one-time grants for this purpose to countries including Albania and Costa Rica following separate cyberattacks on government services in those nations.
The new strategy will only carry forward these efforts. Nathaniel Fick, the State Department’s ambassador-at-large for cyberspace and digital policy, acknowledged in an interview prior to the strategy’s release that the funds are limited. He teased that his team is working on identifying “candidate projects” to put the fund toward.
“In an overall 5 to 6 percent declining budgetary environment, we’re seeing a net new $50 million foreign assistance fund,” Fick said. “Now, it’s incumbent upon us, me, our team to prove that it’s worth the investment.”
The U.S. also plans to take an enhanced role in cyber diplomacy efforts at the United Nations. The strategy calls for pushing more “action-oriented conversations” at the U.N. on cyber issues, including implementing a framework for responsible behavior in cyberspace. Fick said a “program of action” to implement this framework is already in progress.
The advent of artificial intelligence is set to rapidly change all sectors, and massively alter the world of cyber threats and offensive measures. The new strategy pledges that the U.S. and its allies will “reach consensus on guiding principles” around the development and use of AI technologies, including advancing “global norms” in this space.
“There are a lot of issues that are far from geopolitics, that are far from military applications, where the United States, China, and economies and governments around the world have ample common ground to collaborate,” Fick said on the AI goals.
The international cyber strategy is the latest in a series of plans put forward by the Biden administration in the past year aimed at strengthening the nation’s approach to cyber and technology policy. The most significant of these was the White House’s National Cyber Strategy, which listed enhancing international cyber partnerships as one of the top five priorities.
The national cyber strategy was accompanied by an implementation plan, outlining steps to put the strategy into force. Fick noted that there will also be an implementation plan for the State Department’s strategy, and that “we will have a really concerted effort over the next six months to get as many of these ideas and initiatives baked into our diplomacy as we can.”
The timeline is directly shaped around the upcoming presidential election in November that could spell a change in administration. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 report, widely seen as a playbook for how a second term in office for former President Donald Trump may pan out, recommends that the U.S. engage in cyber diplomacy, but that the nation establish “enforceable norms” of behavior in cyberspace, a more forceful approach to cyber policy.
Fick acknowledged that while U.S. foreign policy may evolve should Trump be elected in November, the main goals of the strategy are likely to remain in place, noting that he was in touch with cyber leadership from the former Trump administration.
“It is so important in the world that the United States be a reliable, consistent partner,” Fick said. “We’re trying to ensure that we have maximal continuity beyond November. … and it’s certainly something that we’re trying to make clear to allies and partners when we engage with them.”