Blinken: Cyberdefense demands a collective response

Dan Patterson interviewed Antony Blinken about cyberthreats targeting critical infrastructure at the Global Cybersecurity Summit in Kyiv, Ukraine.

"[Hacking] is threat that is growing, becoming more acute, and manifesting itself in a number of ways," Blinken explains. "The hard truth is there's no single organization--governments, corporations, NGOs, academic institutions--that has the solution to this problem. [Cybersecurity] demands a collective response and all these groups need to work together proactively."

"The great strength that we have is that we built an open, connected world," Blinken says, "and that open and connected world is increasingly [challenged]. The big divide in so many societies now is between those faced with these incredible forces of change and feel like the best answer is to play defense to protect themselves, to build a wall. And with those who continue to believe that our best bet is to remain open and connected, and to do what we can to shape the forces of change to our advantage, or to at least mitigate the downsides. If those who believe the only answer is to build walls then we're really at risk of losing so much of what has been a source of our strength and our progress, not just materially but as human beings."