Cybersecurity's biggest challenge may be getting the culture right

THE newly created Public Sector Data Security Review Committee will undoubtedly have plenty of technical matters to consider as it forms a cybersecurity plan, but perhaps its most challenging task will be a more sociological one: How to foster a culture and policy philosophy that will ensure the success of its strategy.

Such a culture must embrace transparency and accountability, validate assumptions against evidence, and encourage collaboration.

Improving openness has two objectives. First, prompt reporting to the public adds to the shared pool of knowledge about threats. Second, it limits the spread of a breach by alerting potentially affected stakeholders.