What Obama's cybersecurity plans mean for business

President Obama outlined his new cybersecurity plans and how they will impact the federal government last week, but he left the door open as to how the new rules would affect the private sector. Just how should businesses lock down data and put a bulletproof firewall in place? Is this an issue the federal government has no business tampering with?

Obama stated that his administration "will not dictate" security standards for private industry, but experts believe that there may be some form of regulation in the future that could affect how private companies secure their systems and networks.

"There are certain aspects of security that won't be well-addressed in industry without some kind of regulation," Dave Merkel, vice president of products at Mandiant, told DarkReading.com. "The key is how the regulation is applied, and that it's not too big or unwieldy."

Even if you are diligent about keeping your company out of a hacker's line of fire, it still might make sense for federal regulation--not unlike tax regulation or fire laws--to guide businesses.

For more on cybersecurity regulations in the private sector:
- check out this DarkReading.com article

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