Cybersecurity in the United States has always been more than a technical discipline. It is a civic discipline, a national responsibility, and a cultural commitment. When we speak of protecting networks, data, and systems, we are also speaking of protecting the freedoms that make innovation possible. Security is not simply about firewalls and encryption; it is about ensuring that American businesses, nonprofits, and universities can continue to innovate freely to drive the economy while preserving the liberties that define us.
Too often, cybersecurity is framed narrowly as a contest of algorithms, a framework, or merely a compliance checklist. That view misses the larger truth. Cybersecurity is the architecture of trust in a digital society. It is the scaffolding that allows free speech to flourish online, that enables entrepreneurs to innovate and build without fear of surveillance, and that ensures research institutions can collaborate across borders without compromising their integrity.
Recent developments in Europe remind us how fragile these liberties can be when security is defined only in terms of control. In the United Kingdom, a government watchdog has suggested that creating encrypted messaging apps like Signal or WhatsApp could be considered “hostile activity.” The implication that innovation in privacy tools might be criminalized, rather than celebrated, is chilling.
The European Union is also preparing legislation to expand data retention requirements, targeting VPN providers and messaging platforms. This would force companies to log user activity for extended periods, reviving the specter of mass surveillance. For those of us committed to privacy, the lesson is that technical resilience without a built-in concern for civil liberties is no resilience at all.
Denmark has gone further, proposing a ban on VPNs to prevent access to geo-blocked or illegal streams. While framed as an anti-piracy measure, experts warn that such a ban could criminalize legitimate VPN use, chilling lawful activity and undermining privacy, not to mention the security that VPNs are intended to provide. What theoretically begins as a narrow regulatory effort quickly metastasizes into a broad restriction on freedom.
These examples are not distant curiosities. They are warnings. They show how quickly cybersecurity can be weaponized against the people and the liberties it was meant to protect. They remind us that resilience is not only about defending against hackers or hostile states, but also about defending against policies that erode the foundations of free societies.
For American cybersecurity organizations, the responsibility is significant. We must ensure that our products and services are consistent not only with technical best practices, but with American law, the U.S. Constitution, and the values that underlie them. That means designing systems that protect privacy, that enable free expression, and that resist the temptation to trade freedom for convenience.
This responsibility extends to every constituency we serve. To our customers, we owe systems that are secure without being coercive. To our employees, we owe workplaces where innovation is not stifled by fear. To our nation, we owe a cybersecurity posture that strengthens the notion of a free, representative republic rather than undermines it.
To reiterate, cybersecurity has expanded. It is no longer just about hardware or software. It is about values. It is about embedding freedom of speech and freedom to innovate into protocols, embedding privacy into architectures, embedding civil liberties into operational playbooks. The systems we build today will either carry those values forward or allow them to be eroded.
The choice is ours. We can follow the European path of restriction, surveillance, and control, or we can build systems that honor the American tradition of freedom, liberty and innovation. The former may promise short-term order, but the latter ensures long-term resilience.
The aim is not to build systems that fear liberty, but systems that are strengthened by it. That is how we keep today’s progress from becoming tomorrow’s regret.
Build it right, America.
Adam Firestone
Editor-in-Chief
Leave a Comment