Future US Administrations Must Address Lack of Norms in Cyberspace - White House

Cyber threats will force future US presidential administrations to deal with lack of norms in cyberspace, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Future US presidential administrations will be faced with the challenge of establishing norms in cyberspace, Earnest said in a briefing.

“One of the challenges that [US] policymakers will face, not just in the next admiration but probably in subsequent administrations, is establishing some norms in this new realm,” Earnest stated on Thursday. “In cyberspace these norms don’t exist and it’s a brave new world out there. It poses some risks.”

Earnest noted that the United States and China have made progress in establishing cyberspace norms, such as prohibiting state-sponsored cyber theft for commercial purposes. Intelligence officials have seen a reduction of malicious cyber activity from China targeting US business, Earnest claimed.

Earlier in the day, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stated at a US Senate hearing that an unclassified report on Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election will be released publicly next week.

Russian officials have repeatedly denied involvement in the US election, calling the allegations absurd and noting that they are intended to distract the US public from revelation of corruption and other pressing domestic concerns.

 

Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!