Software providers are going to have to start taking cybersecurity a little more seriously, with the Biden administration making a push to put the responsibility on the companies offering these online tools rather than individual users.
Let’s be honest, the tech industry hasn’t done a great job of shoring up security over the last few years. Security breaches and data leaks have become common occurrences for companies of all sizes, leaving everyday people to pick up the pieces and deal with the consequences.
That may not be the case for much longer though, with the White House announcing plans to make changes to how the country deals with online threats.
National Cybersecurity Strategy Involves More Accountability for Software Providers
The White House released its National Cybersecurity Strategy today, which outlined a few ways in which the government is going to tackle the ongoing cybersecurity crisis in the US.
The most significant measure in the document specified that the onus of responsibility for cybersecurity gaps will be placed more squarely on the shoulders of software providers, rather than the individual users, and the reasoning is pretty hard to argue with.
“Responsibility must be placed on the stakeholders most capable of taking action to prevent bad outcomes, not on the end-users that often bear the consequences of insecure software nor on the open-source developer of a component that is integrated into a commercial product.” – National Cybersecurity Strategy
While that may sound like a lot of tech jargon, the gist of it is that companies that provide online solutions, be it a password manager or a social media platform, will bare more blame when their systems are hacked at the expense of everyday users.
Should Software Providers Bare to Responsibility of Cybersecurity?
Software providers, in most cases, are outfitted with entire IT departments, cybersecurity teams, and bountiful resources to keep user data secure. Unfortunately, these businesses aren’t taking the steps necessary to bolster cybersecurity, because the ramifications are largely passed on to users rather than the companies themselves. This new strategy from the White House, however, could seriously change that.
“The president’s strategy fundamentally reimagines America’s cyber social contract. It will rebalance the responsibility for managing cyber risk onto those who are most able to bear it.” – Kemba Walden, Acting National Cyber Director
Simply put, it doesn’t make sense for everyday users to be the ones taking the hit when software providers drop the ball on security. Sure, password managers and antivirus software can help, but it most cases, there’s nothing an individual can do to keep their data safe in unsecured environments.
