Senators tackle Internet security
WASHINGTON — The president could order emergency measures to combat cyber attacks under a measure introduced today by three senators who say the Internet has unleashed a new breed of cyberterrorists.
Under the bill, the president’s specific powers would be developed with companies and would not allow the government to take over private networks or give it more surveillance authority, the lawmakers said.
“The Internet can also be a dangerous place with electronic pipelines that run directly into everything from our personal bank accounts to key infrastructure to government and industrial secrets,’’ Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who heads the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said at a news conference.
Lieberman is sponsoring the measure with Susan Collins of Maine, the panel’s senior Republican, and committee member Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware.
“Our economic security, our national security, and our public safety are now all at risk as a result of new kinds of enemies, with new kinds of names like cyberwarriors, cyberspies, cyberterrorists, and cybercriminals,’’ Lieberman said.
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 Olympia Snowe, a Maine Republican.
That proposed legislation has been rewritten to clarify the president’s role in a cyber emergency.
Lieberman said Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, wants to pass legislation this year. Lieberman’s committee plans a hearing next week.
“We cannot wait for a cyber 9/11,’’ Collins said.
Lawmakers are trying to craft legislation to boost US cybersecurity after reports of hacked government computer systems and Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc.’s January threat to leave China following a computer attack.
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 proposed 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 cybersecurity 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.
