But the Internet empowers everybody, including criminals and foreign governments intent on weakening the United States of America. As digital networks have proliferated, so has malicious software designed to exploit the networks for destructive purposes. Internet predators are increasingly capable and sophisticated.

Cyber threats are now so common that they pose a real danger to U.S. national security. Networks must be secured against intrusion, otherwise the United States risks severe economic damage and potential defeat at the hands of other countries. But the anonymity of the Internet impedes efforts to deter and destroy threats.

The U.S. government has taken a number of steps aimed at combating threats to digital networks, including a Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative launched in 2008. However, the current federal framework for dealing with cyber threats is fragmented, and it cannot keep up with emerging dangers.

The new Obama administration will have to determine whether current cybersecurity efforts are sufficient or if additional resources are required. The Obama administration will also have to decide whether the current federal framework for addressing cyber threats can do the job, and if not how to tap more agile sources of expertise in the marketplace.

In the 20 years since the Cold War ended, the world has become connected in ways it never was before. A breakthrough called the Internet has integrated previously isolated networks into a single global web that anyone with a computer can enter. The technology that made this possible, called Internet Protocol communications, has torn down the barriers that once impeded interaction among diverse and scattered users.

As a result, the world has become a more open and productive place. People who once had little say in how their society operated have been empowered, and opportunities for enrichment of every kind have multiplied.

But the paradox of the Internet is that in delivering power to the edges, it has also delivered power to the fringes. Predators of every persuasion now have access and options they never would have enjoyed in the past.

Some are agents of foreign governments seeking to subvert democracy or steal its secrets. Others are criminals, cult members, transnational terrorists or nihilistic vandals. All have discovered that the Internet provides a potential pathway to their goals. And increasingly, it is information networks themselves -- the nervous system of our civilization -- that such actors seek to target.

Outside View: Internet threats -- Part 2
Most Internet users have some awareness of the problem of threats to the entire system from criminals, terrorists and potentially hostile nations, since they encounter it in the form of spyware, viruses and other online nuisances.

However, the most disturbing "cyber" threats are largely invisible to the general public, because they involve attacks on specialized networks used by the armed forces, healthcare professionals, air traffic controllers, financial institutions, public utilities and heavy industry.

Each of these vital components of modern society now relies on Internet Protocol communications to run efficiently, and in most cases the new technology was assimilated without a careful assessment of its vulnerability to attack by outsiders.

A report from the Lexington Institute titled "Hidden Danger: The Threat to America's Networks" provides an overview of the threat to U.S. information networks, especially the networks operated by the federal government.

The report begins by explaining the spectrum of cyber threats the United States nation currently faces and then details the potential consequences for military, civil and commercial networks, the available remedies for dealing with the danger, and the steps the government has taken to date in implementing said remedies. It concludes with a series of recommendations, the most important of which is that government recognize its limitations and turn to the private sector for most of the expertise needed in defeating cyber threats.

Networks of one sort or another have existed since the dawn of civilization. Digital networks, though, are a relatively new thing. Whether wired or wireless, digital networks all operate using binary computer code -- the language of ones and zeros that is the foundation for software. The basic architecture of the Information Age consists of computer nodes where digital information is stored and used, and links that convey that information between nodes. When a group of nodes and links are organized to accomplish some shared purpose, they become a network.

The Internet codes digital information so it can traverse many different networks as if they were a single unified web. Originally conceived to maintain connectivity in wartime, it grew into a worldwide phenomenon when tools became available that made it easy for people to use Internet Protocol communications to send or access information anywhere a network connection existed.

Unfortunately, predators quickly learned how to employ the new tools for their own purposes. Thus, from the earliest days of the Information Age, there has been concern about securing the Internet against those who would misuse it.

Concern about cybersecurity grew as Internet-style communications became the preferred means of conducting commerce, governance and other forms of social interaction.

(Loren B. Thompson is chief executive officer of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank that supports democracy and the free market.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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