#ISC2CONGRESS Opening Keynote Speaker: Policy and Technology Must Work Together

#ISC2CONGRESS Opening Keynote Speaker: Policy and Technology Must Work Together

The relationship between technology and public policy is the defining challenge of the current century, according to Bruce Schneier, the keynote speaker at (ISC)2Security Congress 2020, taking place virtually this week.


“Today technology is deeply intertwined with society. It’s literally creating our world. It’s no longer sustainable for technology and policy to be in different worlds,” said Schneier, a security expert, best-selling author and Fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman-Klein Center for Internet & Society.


When the internet was first commercialized, governments didn’t want to stifle the development of an important and profitable industry. As a result, the internet grew and evolved without any real planning as it became closely linked with financial systems, election systems and so many other aspects of today’s world, Schneier explained.


Limited Technology Understanding


Policymakers have a poor understanding of technology, something that Schneier said was obvious when Congress held hearings on Facebook and its role in shaping public perceptions. Policymakers tend to ignore technology when a better understanding of it doesn’t fit into their political agendas, according to Schneier. Lobbyists, for their part, “are more than happy to provide pseudoscience to match any policy,” Schneier said.


A lack of technology understanding also manifests itself in discussions about the supply chain. Questions in recent years over companies such as Chinese smartphone maker Huawei and Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky are fueled by rhetoric uninformed by technology, he said.


Overlooked in those discussions, he noted, is the fact that technology from U.S. companies typically is designed by multi-country teams and uses components made in other countries. Building a ..

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