Reid, Key Chairmen Pledge To Push Cybersecurity

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and the chairmen of the seven Senate committees with jurisdiction over cybersecurity introduced a measure this week that recognizes the need to act to secure the nation from cyber attacks and calls on the Obama administration and lawmakers to enact legislation.

The non-binding legislation appears to set a marker for future cybersecurity legislation. It calls on Congress to enact and the president to sign "bipartisan legislation to secure the United States against cyber attack, to enhance American competitiveness and create jobs in the information technology industry, and to protect the identities and sensitive information of American citizens and businesses." The measure outlines 10 areas that should be addressed by this still-to-come legislation. They include enhancing the "security and resiliency" of the U.S. government's networks from cyber attacks; incentivizing the private sector to "quantify, asses", and mitigate cyber risks to their communications and information networks;" improving the ability of the federal government and private sector to assess cyber risks and prevent, detect, and robustly respond to cyber attacks; improving protections for U.S. critical infrastructure; and bolstering the tools for investigating and preventing cyber crimes. In a statement announcing the legislation, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller (D-WV) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT), pledged to pick up where they left off in the last Congress on the issue.