Dealing with the Internet’s split personality

A central question of our time is whether we can continue enjoying the Good Internet while suppressing the Bad Internet. The greatest threat to ordinary Americans comes from the Internet’s role in providing so-called critical infrastructure — cyber-networks for finance, power, transportation, health care, communications and shopping, to name a few. I am not a cyber-expert, but here’s a brief outline of what I think desirable:

1. Build a cyber-firewall — as Russia and China are attempting to do — to keep out mass foreign attacks. They close their cyber-borders; we leave ours open. It’s a self-inflicted wound. (China’s and Russia’s policies also reflect a desire to purge the Internet of subversive political views.)
2. Switch cyber-traffic used for operational control (financial transfers, power distribution, transport networks) to private networks and reserve the Internet for nonessential informational exchanges. This would reduce, though not eliminate, the threat of losing critical infrastructure.
3. Build redundancy into the system, with separate defenses and passwords, so that breaches in one system can be instantly remedied in an attack.
4. Mandate that the most sophisticated computer chips be made in the United States. In case of a crisis, we wouldn’t immediately face shortages of chips needed by the military.

I recognize that this approach represents a basic switch in U.S. policy, which has favored an “open” Internet not burdened with nationalistic policies. But let’s face it: That game is long lost. Like it or not, the Internet is being twisted to serve national goals.