New Cybersecurity Legislation Introduced in the Senate

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Jeff Bone

As I noted a few weeks ago, Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) were drafting new cybersecurity legislation.  Last week the Senators introduced two bills.  The first, S.778 (text of the bill not yet available), would establish an Office of National Security Advisor within the Executive Office of the President.  The second, S.773 (text of the bill not yet available), entitled the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, gives the President the power to limit or shut down Internet traffic to and from any federal government or United States infrastructure network.  The other provisions of the legislation are summarized in my previous post.

Whether the legislation has any chance of passing remains to be seen.  However, some groups are already criticizing aspects of the legislation.  The President of the Center for Democracy and Technology, for example, has stated "[t]he cybersecurity threat is real, but such a drastic federal intervention in private communications technology and networks could harm both security and privacy."  The bills have been referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs.

Links:

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Senate Drafting Cybersecurity Law - Seeks To Appoint National "Cybersecurity Czar"

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Jeff Bone

Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) are drafting cybersecurity legislation that would establish a permanent national security czar reporting directly to the White House, according to a recent announcement from Senator Nelson and other reports.  The proposed legislation would also

  • require intelligence and Homeland Security officials to perform vulnerability assessments;
  • create a clearinghouse for information sharing between the government and private sector; and
  • fund scholarships for those interested in cybersecurity.

The proposed legislation follows on the heels of three incidents where computers in Senator Nelson's office were hacked .  The current draft legislation contains provisions similar to those recommended by the Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, which released a report in December 2008.

Links:

  • The post on Senator Nelson's website can be found here.
  • The March 23, 2009 CNET News article, "A bill to shift cybersecurity to the White House" can be found here.
  • The December 2008 report from the Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency is available here.
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