By Joseph Picard: Subscribe to Joseph's RSS feed
June 10, 2010 5:43 PM EDT
That's the warning from federal lawmakers who today introduced a bill to prevent a catastrophic cyber attack upon a power grid or the banking system from ever happening, and to defend against a multitude of other, perhaps less devastating cyber assaults against the government, the businesses and the people of the United States.
"The threat of a cyber attack is very real," said Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), at a press conference introducing the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, a bill she co-sponsored with Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Thomas Carper (D-DE). "We cannot wait for a cyber 9/11. We have to take action now."
"This bill was prompted by growing concerns that public and private sector networks have become increasingly vulnerable to attack from cyber warriors, spies, criminals and terrorists," Senator Lieberman said.
"The federal government's efforts to secure cyber networks have been disjointed, understaffed, and underfinanced," Lieberman said. "We simply need better cyber security for the 21st century, and we are confident that this legislation will take a long stride in that direction."
A similar bill, the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2010, was passed by the House last month and incorporated as an amendment into the House's National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2011.
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The Senate bill would establish an Office of Cyberspace Policy within the Executive Office of the President, with a director appointed by the president. The bill would also establish the National Center for Cyber Security and Communications, under the Department of Homeland Security.
Lieberman explained that, among other duties, the center would work with private corporations to establish cyber security performance standards for businesses across the country. The senators emphasized that the standards would not be forced upon companies, but measures the private sector assisted in recommending.
The bill also contains a provision that would grant the president temporary emergency powers over critical sections of national cyberspace in the event of an attack or imminent threat.
"DHS has identified a number of critical parts of national cyberspace, and these parts could come under the president in an emergency," Lieberman said.
Lieberman named the financial system, power grids and certain dams as examples of these critical sectors of national cyberspace. The senators emphasized that the president's extraordinary powers would be limited to the task at hand.
"He would, for example, be able to limit communications between the particular company and the nation the threat was perceived as coming from," Lieberrman said. "He would be able, in some instances, to shut part of a system down."
Collins said that the bill gives no new surveillance powers to the president or the government, and that the president would not be authorized to take over any private company.
Another provision would instruct the national center to set up cyber talent competitions and challenges in an initiative to find, recruit and train people able to operate and develop cyber security systems and methodologies.
"Other nations do this," Senator Carper said. "They find talented people and train them to become cyber warriors. We need to develop our own home-grown cyber warriors to ensure our security."
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