U.S. Senators Urge New Powers for President to Respond to Cyber Attacks
The president could order emergency measures to combat cyber attacks under legislation being announced today by three senators, according to a summary of the bill obtained by Bloomberg News.
Under the legislation, the president’s specific powers would be developed with companies and wouldn’t allow the government to take over private networks or give it more surveillance authority, the summary said.
“Any emergency measures imposed must be the least disruptive necessary to respond to the threat,” according to the summary.
The new measure will be detailed at a press conference today by its co-sponsors. They are Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who heads the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Susan Collins of Maine, the panel’s senior Republican, and committee member Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat.
“Our economic security, national security and public safety are now all at risk from new kinds of enemies, cyber- warriors, cyber-spies, cyber-terrorists and cyber-criminals,” Lieberman said in a statement. “The need for this legislation is obvious and urgent.”
Concern about presidential authority to shut down the Internet previously generated opposition among some businesses to a measure introduced by Senators Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, and Maine Republican Olympia Snowe.
That legislation has been rewritten to clarify the president’s role in a cyber emergency.
Hacker Attacks
Lawmakers are trying to craft legislation to boost U.S. cyber-security following reports of hacked government computer systems and Mountain View, California-based Google Inc.’s January threat to leave China in the wake of a computer attack.
“For too long, our approach to cyber security has been disjointed and uncoordinated,” Collins said in a statement.
The Lieberman-Collins-Carper measure would require the president to inform Congress in advance of what measures are being taken. The measures would expire in 30 days unless renewed by the president.
Under the legislation, a White House Office of Cyberspace Policy would be established.
The measure would leave it to businesses that run critical facilities such as power plants and telecommunications networks to choose the security they use to protect networks.
A national cyber-security center would be created within the Department of Homeland Security. The center’s Senate- confirmed director would advise the president on the federal government’s computer-network security.
The center would work with companies to develop requirements for tightening security and share warnings with the private sector about possible attacks.
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To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Bliss in Washington jbliss@bloomberg.net
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