ECONOMICS OF CYBER SECURITY
ISA’s unique mission is to create a sustainable system of security by integrating advanced technology with economics and public policy.
A unique focused entity in the public policy space, ISA furthers this mission by addressing the issues that research demonstrates is the single biggest obstacle to cyber security: COST.
Beginning with the ISA Cyber Security “Social Contract” and continuing through its publications on enterprise risk management, supply chain management, Advanced Persistent Threats, mobile security, information sharing, cloud computing, as well as numerous journal articles and Congressional testimonies, ISA develops programs that seek to reallocate and align economic incentives so that cyber security can be addressed and maintained on a sustainable basis.
The ISA perspective is based on the real world experiences of its members, particularly the ISA Board, which is populated by security experts from virtually every area of the economy and faces the gamut of cyber threats on an ongoing basis.
Public policy is increasingly adopting the ISA, incentive-based approach as illustrated in both President Obama’s “Cyberspace Policy Review” (click here for report) and the House Republican Task Force Report on Cyber Security (click here for report), and most recently in the proposed Senate compromise to the Lieberman-Collins bill, S. 3414.
Additionally, independent research such as from Carnegie Mellon University and PricewaterhouseCoopers (click here for report) indicates that enterprises also are adopting these approaches.
ISA is dedicated to continuing to assist in developing this sustainable model of cyber security through coordination with its member companies and government partners.



