US President Obama Delivers Plea for Deescalation of Cyber Warfare

US President Obama asked for USD 19 billion for cybersecurity efforts in his budget request, a 35 per cent increase from current levels, with USD 3 billion earmarked to help modernise the patchwork of computer systems used in government agencies. President Obama urged deescalation of a potential arms race involving cyberweapons. The president's remarks followed his meeting with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China. The U.S. has more offensive and defensive capability than any other country on Earth, Obama noted. Citing a new era of significant cyberwarfare capabilities, the president urged moving into a space where leaders begin to institute some norms to prevent global escalation from spinning out of control. "We're going to have enough problems in the cyberspace with non-state actors who are engaging in theft and using the Internet for all kinds of illicit practices, and protecting our critical infrastructure, and making sure our financial systems are sound," Obama said, "and what we cannot do is have a situation where this becomes the Wild, Wild West, where countries that have significant cybercapacity start engaging in competition -- unhealthy competition or conflict through these means when, I think wisely, we've put in place some norms when it comes to using other weapons." New evidence implicating Russia in attempts to undermine the U.S. election has come to light, wrote Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a letter to FBI Director James Comey, late last month. Will the US call for deescalation of cyber warfare yielded bona fide results or simply be viewed as political rhetoric? Let us know your thoughts here at the Cloud and Cyber Security Center.