Bloomberg View: An International Response to Cyberwar

Although the word China doesn’t appear in the title of the “Administration Strategy on Mitigating the Theft of U.S. Trade Secrets,” the plan the White House introduced on Feb. 20, it’s written between the lines in bold type. And that’s a good thing: The recent escalation in Chinese cyberattacks against U.S. targets is a threat to American businesses and to the stability of diplomatic relations. It illustrates why the rules of cyberwarfare must evolve from their current state of dangerous ambiguity into something approaching international norms. The Obama administration’s newly assertive stance is a welcome start.

Congress should now pass mandatory cybersecurity standards for companies that operate critical infrastructure, to be overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. These standards should be applied in ways that maximize flexibility and harness competitive energy. Many are commonsense, such as requiring employees to change their passwords frequently, restricting new applications, and keeping up with security updates and software patches. Companies in critical fields must continually upgrade their ability to detect intrusions and disclose them to customers when they happen.