Essay Sample on The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act

For over a decade, cybersecurity has developed into a serious issue for the private sector and the government alike. The growth of e-commerce and information technology in America has caused increased cybercrimes, subsequently causing significant losses to the government and its people. The cybersecurity privacy system and laws in the United States are undeniably the oldest, most effective, and most robust globally. Benzel (2015) argues that the privacy system in the country depends on private litigation and government enforcement. Presently, cyber regulation is made up of legislation from Congress and directives from the Executive Branch that protect computer systems and information technology. The goal of the regulation of cybersecurity is to force organizations and people to safeguard their information and systems from cyber-attacks such as Trojan horses and viruses. People are also encouraged to protect their information from control system attacks and unauthorized access where people steal confidential information or intellectual property. The state governments have undertaken honest measures towards improving cybersecurity, especially in the form of the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act.

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Impact of the Act

The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act provides for voluntary, ongoing partnerships between private and public sectors. The goal is to improve cybersecurity and strengthen research and development in the respective field. The Act also ensures the development of the workforce, public education, preparedness and awareness, and other reasons that ensure the safe use of cyberspace (Radziwill & Benton, 2017). Cybersecurity is a serious concern affecting individuals daily. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act protects the amount of tie that people spend on the internet and the different vulnerabilities. The goal of the act is to protect people from cyber-attacks. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act helped the federal government formulate skilled cybersecurity employees coordinating and prioritizing federal research and development on cybersecurity. The Act also helps in improving the transfer of cybersecurity technologies and ensuring awareness and education to the public. After its enactment, the law strengthened the duties of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, especially in defining ways the nation and federal government handles cybersecurity. Most of the breaches in cybersecurity happen due to a lack of following the present best practices. At the same time, the representation of the federal government in developing technical standards is uncoordinated and incomplete. The Act helps in the development of a method for ensuring representation in every vital standard of international cybersecurity (Fischer, 2014). The Act also assists in the reauthorization of research programs while also fostering computing initiatives that ensure the safe configuration of personal computers. Through the Cyber Security Enhancement Act, federal branches taking part in networking programs have implemented strategic plans for guiding their research and development efforts on cybersecurity.

Court Cases Involving the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act

In the last five years, the Supreme Court has judged cases on cybersecurity. In 2012, the Supreme Court decided the case of United States v. Jones. In this case, it was held that using a GPS tracker for monitoring one's vehicle amounted to a search for purposes contained in the Fourth Amendment (Slobogin, 2012). The case involved police officers planting a GPS tracker on the vehicle of a suspect when it was parked in a public space. The law enforcement officials monitored the car's movements for over three weeks. The judges agreed that the actions amounted to a search. However, they were not in agreement over the reasons for the holding. Another case that was addressed by the Supreme Court was Riley v. California. In this case, the issue under consideration was if law enforcement officials could utilize information found on one's cell phone after making an arrest. In this case, the Court argued that all police officers need to have a warrant before carrying out searches on cell phones. The decisions emphasized on data found in cell phones. Defendants have begun using the case of Riley and its decisions in preventing cases that involve warrantless searches (Miller, 2015). These are examples of cases that have cybersecurity issues, and they are part of the Cyber Security Enhancement Act. When someone is found guilty of violating the Act, the punishment is fines and imprisonment to a minimum of five years.

Conclusion

Data breaches have resulted in more attention because of the effect of digitization on healthcare, small businesses, and the financial sectors, among others. Although the data breaches had happened even before digitization was introduced, the new digital platforms offered new dimensions to the breaches. The volume, costs, and importance of data breaches have significantly increased. As shown in this discussion, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 seeks to protect people, government, and businesses whenever they use cyberspace. There is increased vulnerability whenever people use online platforms in a highly digitized world. Undeniably, the Act has had significant effects on business and government processes. As shown, the Act helped the federal government formulate skilled cybersecurity employees coordinating and prioritizing federal research and development on cybersecurity. The Act also helps in improving the transfer of cybersecurity technologies and ensuring awareness and education to the public. An educated public avoids mistakes and is aware of what is needed of them whenever they use cyberspace. Most of the breaches in cybersecurity happen due to a lack of following the present best practices. The federal government has also realized immense benefits from using this Act, ensuring stricter controls on the use of space. The future of cybersecurity and subsequent attacks is safe, with more regulations seeking to safeguard consumer information.

References

Benzel, T. (2015). A strategic plan for cybersecurity research and development. IEEE Security & Privacy, 13(4), 3-5.Retrieved from https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=7180232

Fischer, E. A. (2014). Cybersecurity issues and challenges: in brief. Retrieved from https://www.a51.nl/sites/default/files/pdf/R43831.pdf

Miller, T. M. (2015). Digital Border Searches After Riley v. California. Wash. L., Rev., 90, 1943. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4890&context=wlr

Radziwill, N. M., & Benton, M. C. (2017). Cybersecurity Cost of Quality: Managing the Costs of Cybersecurity Risk Management. arXiv preprint arXiv:1707.02653. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1707/1707.02653.pdf

Slobogin, C. (2012). Making the most of United States v. Jones in a surveillance society: A statutory implementation of the mosaic theory. Duke J. Const. L. & Pub. Pol'y, 8, 1. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1056&context=djclpp