News last week that Chinese and Russian hackers had infiltrated the U.S. electrical power grid gave practical significance to already high-profile issues in Washington — how better to secure the nation’s cyber-infrastructure.  Late in 2008, the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency (the Commission) released a report citing the U.S.’s failure to protect cyberspace as “one of the most urgent national security problems” facing the Obama administration.  The failure threatens the safety and well-being of the United States and its allies and raises immediate risks for the economy.  In a global economy, where economic strength and technological leadership are as important to national power as military force, failing to secure cyberspace puts the U.S. at a disadvantage.  When Chinese and Russian intruders apparently left software on networks supporting the U.S. power grid that could be used to compromise electric and water systems, the warnings of the Commission proved true in a real-world way.
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