How Obama should work with business to combat China cyberspying

[Commentary] What makes the US-China cyberespionage dispute unique is that the two countries are playing a game – spy vs. spy – that is accepted in international relations, but they are playing it by different rules. The US government views espionage as a national security activity, not as a tool for furthering the economic well-being of US companies. In contrast, China views the well-being of its companies as being directly tied to the security interests of the nation. In their minds, drawing a line between espionage focused on stealing state secrets and espionage focused on stealing corporate secrets is arbitrary.

If the US wishes to stop Chinese economic cyberespionage, it will need to increase the costs and reduce the benefits of such activities. That will cause China and other competitors to rethink whether such activities are worth it. Government actions are important, but the key players in this game sit in the private sector. A true public-private partnership is needed. There are several policy levers that the US government can use to achieve those goals, though changing China’s fundamental views through government actions alone will be difficult. A more powerful option is for the US government to help industry lower the value that China gains from its activities.

This can be done in three ways.

• First, the US government must provide companies with actionable intelligence that they can use to protect their networks.
• Second, government agencies must incentivize companies to take actions that improve their cybersecurity.
• Third, the US government needs to clarify the legal framework that delineates what kinds of “active defenses” are permissible under different circumstances.