West Must Collectively Tackle Adversary Nations' Efforts to Control Networks: Ericsson CEO
Western nations need to collaborate rather than compete over critical communications and tech network infrastructure in the face of adversary nations clearly trying to control them, Ericsson Americas CEO Yossi Cohen said Tuesday. Speaking at the Information Technology Industry Council’s annual Intersect policy event in Washington, Cohen said Ericsson competitors in those nations are making business moves that are “not rational” unless they're viewed as part of a geopolitical strategy of control.
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Also at the event, National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said the U.S.’s pending National Cybersecurity Strategy will focus on six areas, including trying to shape adversary behavior rather than just react to cybercrimes and attacks. He didn’t give a time frame for the strategy's release. Cairncross spoke at one of Intersect's many talks that revolved around AI and cybersecurity issues.
Cohen said competitors in adversary nations have an agenda of taking over critical infrastructure wherever they're doing business. Many countries already have chosen critical infrastructure vendors for wireless and wireline networks, he said, and the infrastructure they need for their AI digital stacks might be the last chance for the West to influence them, or it will "lose these countries forever." He didn't name the adversary nations or rival companies operating there.
Cohen also argued that mobile networks are increasingly critical infrastructure for nations. "Physical AI" -- the world of autonomous robots and self-driving cars -- and the wireless infrastructure supporting it will be so important to economies and national security that their security will be imperative, he said.
Cairncross said the National Cybersecurity Strategy’s focus on shaping adversary behavior aims to “dent” the incentives of cybersecurity bad actors, such as rival nation-states, ransomware groups, gangs and scam centers, to engage in those activities. The strategy will also focus on the regulatory framework, securing the federal government and critical infrastructure, supporting U.S. dominance in emerging technologies, and addressing the skills and workforce gap, he said.
Cybersecurity policy in the U.S. has been diffuse, involving a variety of efforts and authorities, rather than being viewed as its own strategic domain, Cairncross added. He said the Trump administration is trying to change that by using the Office of the National Cyber Director to coordinate policy across agencies.
AI “is a big blind spot” in private-sector cybersecurity, said Steve Vintz, co-CEO of cybersecurity firm Tenable. While 90% of organizations have adopted AI in some fashion, there’s typically no clarity or accountability about who is in charge of it, he said. He called for a national AI security standard for industry to follow, akin to the cybersecurity framework from the National Institute of Standards and Technology that's seen as the gold standard for managing cyber risks and could be updated for AI, he said.
Drew Bagley, CrowdStrike's chief privacy officer, said AI is accelerating cyberthreats by giving bad actors means to attack at scale more cheaply and quickly. AI also increasingly represents an insider threat, he added, as the systems have been deployed where they have access to data and operations that they shouldn’t.
For an AI-ready workforce, the federal government must incentivize K-12 schools to put greater emphasis on math and science education, said Senate Cybersecurity Subcommittee Chairman Mike Rounds, R-S.D. There also needs to be more attention on technical schools, he argued. “You can’t build a data center without having more electricians.”