Silicon Valley to be front line of global cyber war

Chinese President Xi Jinping and American counterpart Barack Obama will talk cyber-security on Friday in California, but experts say the state’s Silicon Valley and its signature high-tech firms should provide the front lines in the increasingly aggressive fight against overseas hackers.

With China seeking to grow its economy and expand its technology base, companies like Facebook, Apple, Google and Twitter are inviting targets. In fact, all have been attacked and all point the finger at China, which has denied any role.

The US government has stepped up efforts to thwart cyberattacks, but those efforts are mainly focused at protecting its own secrets, especially regarding military operations and technologies.

Paul Rosenzweig, a former Department of Homeland Security official whose Red Branch Consulting provides national security advice, said the responsibility for preventing attacks in the private sector lies with the US innovators who created the technology that’s being hacked in the first place.

“To some degree, they were getting a pass,” he said. “If a car manufacturer made a car that was routinely able to be stolen, they’d be sued. If software is made with gaps that are a liability, they bear some responsibility, and in recent years there’s been a sea change in high tech firms accepting that responsibility.”