White House Proposes Cybersecurity Legislation

The Obama Administration has released to Congress a cybersecurity legislative proposal to increase protection of the nation's critical information technology infrastructures.

The proposal focuses on three core infrastructures critical to all industries--the electrical grid and financial and transportation networks.

The proposal calls for clarifying the authority of the Department of Homeland Security to assist businesses, states and local governments that have experienced a cyber attack, such as asking DHS to review computer logs to determine when a hacking occurred. "However, the lack of a clear statutory framework describing DHS' authorities has sometimes slowed the ability of DHS to help the requesting organization," according to an administration fact sheet on the legislative proposal.

The administration also calls for clarification in law that businesses and state/local governments can share information about new cyber threats or incidents with DHS. The legislative proposal further would require DHS to work with industries to identify core critical-infrastructure operators and prioritize the most important threats and vulnerabilities for these operators.

More information is available here.

--Joseph Goedert