Rockefeller and Snowe on Cybersecurity Review

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen Olympia Snowe (R-ME) say the time for our government and the private sector to act in a coordinated fashion to combat cyber terror was yesterday. The are calling on the Obama Administration to: 1) Raise the profile of cybersecurity by establishing an Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor within the Executive Office of the President. "This Advisor must serve as the lead official on all cyber matters - reporting directly to the President and coordinating with the intelligence community, government agencies, Congress, and the private sector." the senators write. 2) Create state and regional cybersecurity centers to assist small and medium sized businesses in adopting cybersecurity measures. 3) Increase the federal cybersecurity research and development programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF), and requiring the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish measureable cybersecurity standards and best practices that are applicable both to government and the private sector. 4) Create a Cybersecurity Advisory Panel of experts from industry, academia, and non-profit advocacy and civil liberty organizations to review and advise the President. 5) Require the President's Cyber Advisor to put civil liberties protections front and center. 6) Clarify the President's authority to protect cyber systems in the face of an attack or imminent high-level threat to national security.