Cybersecurity in the Private Sector

The focus of the discussion of cybersecurity in the United States lies on the military and the government, rather than the private sector. In fact, there is widespread resistance to government intervention to protect the private sector from cybersecurity attacks. However, especially for the United States, protecting the private sector is crucial because so much of the public sector relies on what has been produced by the private sector. Corporations create software and hardware used by the government to ensure national security, as well as carry out critical security functions under contract. Thus, the protection of the private sector by the U.S. government is necessary.
The pushback against protection and regulation of the private sector comes from several places. The first is the nature of Americans — as a whole, we are accustomed to a laissez-faire approach to private businesses and corporations, and the thought of heavy regulation by the U.S. government goes strongly against historical norms. So, despite private corporations playing a vital role in the cybersecurity and protection of the nation as a why should we be regulated? Why should we have to give up the freedom that the rest of the private sector is granted simply because we are involved in cybersecurity? Why should our motives be for the common good rather than our shareholders? This is the sentiment that is shared by many of these tech corporations.
Many corporations and CEOs believe that the costs of increased cybersecurity protections do not outweigh the actual effect of cyber breaches and attacks. Especially considering that CEOs direct their focus on short term and instantaneous profit, rather than long term, they are not concerned with the costs incurred by cyber breaches that usually surface years after the actual attack. There is little incentive involved, and because of this, corporations are reluctant and slow to take the necessary steps to increase cybersecurity nationwide. There is a level of apathy that can only be counteracted with incentives and benefits, which do not currently exist.
As a result of the private sector being reluctant and lax on implementing necessary cybersecurity measures, the public sector is suffering. The federal government and the military both heavily rely on computers and software produced by the private sector, and with a lack of strong cybersecurity measures implemented into the software, the United States is now vulnerable to many more cyber attacks. And any effort imposed by the government to mend this is immediately met with resistance from the private sector.