Issue Position: Cybersecurity

Issue Position

Guaranteeing the security of this country should be a primary function of our government. There is a new war being waged by our adversaries and we must be prepared to meet these new and evolving threats.

As president, Hickenlooper will invest in efforts to protect against cyber-attacks. Trump obsesses about border walls; our cyber firewalls are far more important. Our country needs to wake up to the fact that a low-grade, cyber-war is already raging today, often against the US, including commercial attacks as well as direct assaults on our government, military, and the critical infrastructure systems that protect our daily lives.

It is a new and difficult kind of war. It is hard, and sometimes impossible, to determine who is behind a specific attack. Even when we can, we have no procedures or protocols for an appropriate response. Any use of offensive cyber capabilities runs the risk of retaliation and escalation.

The 2016 election showed how Russia attacked our electoral system. We remain shockingly underprepared to confront these new dangers.

This problem has concerned Hickenlooper for years. As Governor, he allocated state funds to help open the National Cybersecurity Center in Colorado Springs. As president, he will shift cybersecurity efforts into higher gear. Hickenlooper will create a new position, Director of National Cybersecurity, to coordinate all our national cybersecurity priorities. The new Cybersecurity Director will bring our security and intelligence agencies together to lay out a 20-year plan, to coordinate how we will harness new and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.

We will also sharpen our offensive cyber capabilities and develop policies on levels of response and when we should use them. Through constant engagement, we will lead an international effort to create a legal framework and diplomatic protocols that can prevent cyber threats from escalating into war.

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