Cyber warriors see politics muddying security efforts

SAN FRANCISCO:  President Donald Trump has vowed to improve cyber attack defence, but security experts meeting this week say a fractious domestic and international political landscape could hamstring efforts to improve internet security.

As the White House mulls an executive order on cyber security to combat an epidemic of data breaches and hacks, participants at the annual RSA Conference voiced concern that dwindling political unity will challenge efforts to improve defence.

"The core of the problem hasn´t changed; defenders have to win every time whereas attackers only have to win once," Forrester Research vice president and group director Laura Koetzle told AFP, while discussing the current state of online threats. "What is different now is that the geopolitical situation is more unstable than it has been in quite a while."

Anti-globalisation rhetoric that has been inflamed by Trump´s rise and the United Kingdom´s Brexit have shaken faith in the "globally interconnected world order" -- seen as upholding rules and agreements to peacefully resolve online and real-world differences between nations. If alliances for thwarting online assaults weaken, Koetzle said, "greater testing from Russia, North Korea, China" and others can be expected, as countries test how far limits can be pushed.

The issue of cyber defence was brought to the forefront after US intelligence officials concluded Russia had carried out a series of attacks aimed at disrupting the election, possibly helping Trump´s campaign.

And an unprecedented series of breaches that have compromised data on millions of US government employees, internet giants such as Yahoo and large companies like Sony Pictures present additional challenges to the administration.

Microsoft chief legal officer Brad Smith used the RSA stage to call for a "Digital Geneva Convention" that would set lines that should not be crossed in cyber war, with an independent oversight body to identify offenders.