White House declassifies excerpts from Bush-era cybersecurity report

The White House on Tuesday made public excerpts of a previously classified report on cybersecurity prepared by the Bush administration.

The report prescribes that the president "establish a front line of defense" and better address emerging cybersecurity threats.It also calls on both White House officials and lawmakers to boost domestic Web security programs, especially with respect to the federal government's classified networks, while expanding cybersecurity research and education programs. The Obama White House decided on Tuesday to declassify the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI), a 2008 report signed by President George W. Bush that has formed the bedrock of the White House's cybersecurity policy. The White House said it chose to declassify the report out of a commitment to transparency. But many are viewing it as an attempt to assuage growing concerns that the federal government is unprepared to handle a cyberattack of unprecedented scale, following the news of two high-profile cyberattacks last month.