Obama bares global cyberspace plan

May 17, 2011, 3:54pm

 

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration laid out plans Monday to work aggressively with other nations to make the Internet more secure, enable law enforcement to work closely on cybercrime, and ensure that citizens everywhere have the freedom to express themselves online.

And in the strongest terms to date, the White House made it clear the US would use its military might to strike back if it should come under a cyberattack that threatened national security.

Coming in the aftermath of populist rebellions in the Middle East, the broad policy stresses Internet freedom and urges other nations to give citizens the ability to shop, communicate and express themselves freely online.

The White House plan emerges as international leaders are struggling to improve cooperation on global cybercrime and set guidelines for Internet oversight.

Cybersecurity experts have argued that the Internet cannot become a safer place until nations implement international agreements that better define and regulate cybercrime, provide oversight of the Internet, and that set out new standards and rules for industry as it increasingly moves its business into the largely ungoverned online world.

The challenges are vast. International leaders are looking for ways to better secure online financial transactions and other business and high-tech exchanges between nations and corporations that span the globe. They also are grasping for ways to crack down on hackers and other cybercriminals and terrorists who are routinely using the Internet to steal money, ferret out classified secrets and technology, and disturb or destroy critical infrastructure, ranging from the electrical grid and telecommunications networks to nuclear plants and transportation systems.