Security News > 2021 > June > Authorities Lag Against Fast-Evolving Cyberspace Threats: Report
Governments worldwide are too often playing catch-up against private cyberspace operators in what is poised to become a key arena for defending national interests, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said Tuesday.
While the US remains the dominant cyberspace power, China is rapidly gaining ground and could soon be a major rival in both the civil and military spheres, the Britain-based research group said after a two-year study.
"All countries are still in the early stages of coming to terms with the strategic implications of cyberspace," the IISS analysts said.
Despite the rapid advances in surveillance and intelligence technologies that exploit advanced computing and network capabilities, most governments have yet to establish legal and political frameworks for their use.
China is gaining ground after making rapid progress in certain fields, as have Russia, Britain, Israel, Australia, Canada and France.
"At the heart of the national strategies of the US and China, and the trade war between them, is competition for control over the technologies that physically underpin the future of cyberspace - such as microchip production, computer assembly, mobile internet, cloud architectures, cables and routers," they said.