Interested in Cyber Security? Read (and support) the new Cybersecurity Legislative Proposal

On 12 May 2011 the Obama Administration unveiled its cybersecurity legislative proposal.

The entire proposal is available for your review at this link: cybersecurity legislative proposal. But I most strongly recommend you read the context provided by the government’s Cybersecurity Coordinator and Special Assistant to the President Howard Schmidt first. Howard provided a clear introduction to this legislation that includes a framework that will make the details easy to remember. The three thrusts to remember are that this proposal will:

1. Help safeguard personal data and the right to know when your data has been compromised
2. Help protect national security by addressing threats to infrastrucure
3. Help protect federal systems while creating stronger privacy and civil liberties protections that keep pace with technology.

That is a very short introduction to well thought out legislative proposal. Please dig deeper and read both Howard’s blog entry and the draft legislation. I have read it all, and I strongly support these very positive measures. Like many others who track these issues, I would have supported a package that did even more, but the fact is we have to move out now and this package of draft legislation is fantastic and deserves our support now. I would like to see it immediately passed and then we can all collectively work on ideas for future enhancements.

For more please start with Howard’s blog post here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/12/administration-unveils-its-cybersecurity-legislative-proposal

The meat of his post is copied below:

The Administration Unveils its Cybersecurity Legislative Proposal

Posted by Howard A. Schmidt on May 12, 2011 at 02:00 PM EDT

Today I am happy to announce that the Administration has transmitted a cybersecurity legislative proposal to Capitol Hill in response to Congress’ call for assistance on how best to address the cybersecurity needs of our Nation. This is a milestone in our national effort to ensure secure and reliable networks for Americans, businesses, and government; fundamentally, this proposal strikes a critical balance between maintaining the government’s role and providing industry with the capacity to innovatively tackle threats to national cybersecurity. Just as importantly, it does so while providing a robust framework to protect civil liberties and privacy.

When the President released his Cyberspace Policy Review (pdf) almost two years ago, he declared cyberspace as a key strategic asset for the United States and its security just as vital. This legislative proposal is the latest achievement in the steady stream of progress we are making in securing cyberspace and completes another near-term action item (pdf) identified in the Cyberspace Policy Review.

The Administration proposal helps safeguard your personal data and enhances your right to know when it has been compromised. In addition to educating you on how to protect yourself from cyber threats with the Stop. Think. Connect. campaign, we believe organizations should inform you when your sensitive personal information may have been compromised. This notice not only helps you to protect yourself against harms like identity theft, but also incentivizes organizations to have better data security in the first place. Today, our country has a patchwork of 47 state notification laws. Our proposal simplifies and strengthens this reporting requirement and reaches all Americans.

It helps protect our national security by addressing threats to our power grids, water systems, and other critical infrastructure. These systems are the backbone of our modern economy; many are privately owned, but all merit our support in protecting them. The Administration proposal advances the security of our increasingly “wired” critical infrastructure, strengthens the criminal penalties for hacking into the systems that control these vital resources, and clarifies the ability of companies and the government to voluntarily share information about cybersecurity threats and incidents in a privacy-protective manner. This is behavior we want and need to promote.

It helps the U.S. government protect our federal networks, while creating stronger privacy and civil liberties protections that keep pace with technology. Since our Federal systems are under constant pressure by hackers, criminals and other threats, the government needs better tools to detect and prevent those threats. Part of cybersecurity is about finding malicious programs, and stopping their spread before they have any impact. This proposal allows the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement intrusion detection and prevention systems that can help speed our response to these incidents. The Administration proposal also designs a framework for protecting privacy and civil liberties that includes new oversight, reporting requirements, and annual certification to ensure that cybersecurity technologies are used for their intended purpose and nothing more.

The Administration’s proposal is one of a number of important steps we are taking towards achieving better cybersecurity. We look forward to working with Congress as it moves forward on this issue. Together, with a shared responsibility to enhance online safety and security, we can ensure cyberspace continues to be an area defined by growth and innovation.

• Read the fact sheet (pdf).
• Read about the Administration’s Cybersecurity Accomplishments (pdf).
• Read the text of the legislative proposal.

Howard A. Schmidt is the Cybersecurity Coordinator and Special Assistant to the President

Related articles

• White House Releases Cybersecurity Plans (informationweek.com)
• W.H. brings cybersecurity plan to Hill (politico.com)
• The Administration Unveils its Cybersecurity Legislative Proposal (whitehouse.gov)
• White House Set To Unveil Cyber Security Plan: Sources (huffingtonpost.com)
• Two Themes from Obama’s Cybersecurity Proposal: Private Auditors and Immunity (emptywheel.firedoglake.com)
• AP sources: White House set to unveil cyber plan (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• White House to unveil cybersecurity proposal (theglobeandmail.com)

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