Wednesday, September 19, 2012

U.S. Senators call for executive order to boost cybersecurity of nation's critical infrastructure

United States Senators Richard Blumenthal (of Connecticut) and Chris Coons (of Delaware) have written a letter to President Barack Obama requesting that he issue an executive order dealing with cybersecurity. In a press release, Senator Blumenthal's office explained that he and Senator Coons "were part of a bipartisan effort to build consensus on critical infrastructure provisions of the Cybersecurity Act of 2012," and said that an executive order could "begin addressing the urgent need to improve the cybersecurity capabilities of the nation's critical infrastructure."

In particular, the release said the legislative effort to pass the Cybersecurity Act advanced the case for "a voluntary system for owners of key power, transportation and communication facilities to coordinate with the federal government on the strengthening of their cyber defenses."

The letter to President Obama states, "the failure of Congress to act should not prevent the executive branch from taking available steps to counter the enormous and growing cyber threat," and acknowledged, "We recognize that an order directing the promulgation of voluntary standards cannot and should not be the final word in cybersecurity ... A well-crafted set of voluntary standards could, however, be an important step towards improving the cybersecurity of our nation's critical infrastructure."

The letter also affirms the senators' commitment to work toward passing a Cybersecurity Act in Congress.

You can read the full letter from Senators Blumenthal and Coons to President Obama here.

1 comment:

Shillelagh Pog said...

You know, .Gov knows best.
Bad idea!