Digital systems are intricately bound to commerce, critical infrastructure, national security, and daily life in the U.S. But a swiftly evolving landscape, driven by factors that include rapid societal adoption of new technologies, growing scale and complexity, and increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, are outpacing efforts to keep systems safe, secure, and resilient.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine aims to serve as a guide for federal agencies, industry leaders, researchers, and others to help prioritize investments and align their efforts in moving the nation forward to a more secure and trustworthy digital future. The report explores important dimensions of the cyber ecosystem, from technical development, operations, and practices to human-machine interactions, policymaking and regulations, and incentives.

There are 10 key areas where advances in technology, practice, or policy would make a measurable difference in strengthening U.S. cybersecurity and resilience, according to the report. These “cyber hard problems” are summarized as:

• • Risk assessment and trust
  • Secure development
  • Secure composition
  • Supply chain
  • Policy establishing appropriate economic incentives
  • Human-system interactions
  • Information provenance, social media, and disinformation
  • Cyber-physical systems and operational technology
  • AI as an emerging capability
  • Operational security

The report also considers developments that have taken place since similar reports in 1995 and 2005. It assesses that while concrete progress has been made in areas such as communication-channel security, global identity management, and denial-of-service attacks, problems still remain.

DETAILS: Cyber Hard Problems: Focused Steps Toward a Resilient Digital Future is available for immediate release. Media inquiries should be directed to the Office of News and Public Information at tel. 202-334-2138 or email news@nas.edu.