Cybersecurity Solutions Critical to Protect Consumers and Businesses Alike

This week, President Obama is unveiling a series of proposals aimed at protecting US consumers and businesses from the kind of devastating cyberattack that Sony Pictures Entertainment suffered at the end of last year.  In a world where essentially every single consumer – and their personal data – is connected online, this conversation could not be more critical.

The Internet is a great source of creativity and innovation.  In our business, it has fostered vivid, gorgeous storytelling, and it has given audiences new ways to enjoy those stories.  But, as recent events have once again made clear, criminal enterprises are also using the Internet to steal trade secrets and content and invade personal privacy.  Businesses of all sizes are vulnerable to this kind of theft, which can leave their proprietary, competitive secrets and even their digital products exposed and available online for anyone to loot.  Consumers risk seeing their financial data or even their personal pictures and correspondence spread all over the Internet – with very little accountability for those who post stolen information.  Government and the private sector are faced with the monumental task of defending against these criminal activities.

That’s why law enforcement must be given the resources they need to police these criminal activities.  And responsible participants in the Internet ecosystem – content creators, search, payment processors, ad networks, ISPs – need to work more closely together to forge initiatives to stop the unlawful spread of illegally-obtained content.  I applaud both the President for proposing steps to address these cyberthreats, as well as leaders in Congress who have taken on these tremendously important issues.  I hope that Congress will keep its focus on strengthening and securing the Internet for everyone.