Cybersecurity through Inoculation

In today's world, cyber-attacks are at the forefront of nearly every major economic and military power. Like a disease, some software viruses invade vulnerable Information Technology (IT) systems without warning and quickly spread from machine to machine at lightning speed. In some instances, the cyber-attack can severely disrupt the operations or even damage the integrity of an organization or agency. As humans, we have learned to control plagues and outbreaks at the source though various means and methods of isolation and inoculation. Why then should we not tackle cybersecurity vulnerabilities at the source and not simply react at the onset of an attack? Over the years, commercial industries have adopted and implemented ISO standards aimed at increasing quality and reliability of their products. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has established Qualified Product/Supplier/Manufacturers/Distributors Lists (QPL, QML, QSLM, QSLD) as a means to control and eliminate the likelihood of counterfeit parts from penetrating DoD supply chains. It is time for similar standards and techniques to be established and implemented for cybersecurity.