Cybersecurity

We need to overhaul and refine our current process for obtaining and maintaining certifications in specific job functions.

 

We need to implement new standards of accountability and be diligent about certificates by implementing severe penalties for violators.

 

We also need to crack down on reckless “hackathons” that seek to glamorize “hacks” in an effort to normalize people to acts of sabotage. The culture of “hacking” is predatory, not “sexy,” and we are only exposing our country and others to serious long-term consequences when we do not model and engage responsibly with technology.

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That technology is being incorporated into the world for use in engaging people at younger and younger ages is an actual security concern and needs to be addressed with appropriate decorum and enforcement. As such, we need to maintain high standards for compliance regarding certifications in cyber technologies and enforce severe penalties for violations.

 

We also need to enforce appropriate punishments and penalties for misrepresenting the validity of the standards authority referenced in the awarding of certificates. Technical standards bodies exist for an important reason as do proprietary use specifications. Normalizing piracy should not be tolerated anymore than data harvesting or mining of private individual data.

 

I propose creation of a national entity for authenticating certifications that is not under the rubric of homeland security and has enforceability specifically to awards for federal contracts and meeting other reporting requirements. It could include collaboration with the Securities and Exchange Commission and should be empowered with the capability to stop acts of wire fraud before, during or as they occur. 

 

This entity would also assure appropriate boundaries around access to, use of, or redistribution of intangible property or human capital associated with certificate holders and/or affiliated organizations. This would also correlate with developing standards and values for appropriate compliance departments in relevant industries and sectors, with specific attention to any certificate holders working with technologies concerning private patient medical data or biodata.