August 28, 2009 12:34 AM PDT
Bill would give president emergency control
of Internet
Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.
They’re not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.
The new version would allow the president to “declare a cybersecurity emergency” relating to “non-governmental” computer networks and do what’s necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for “cybersecurity professionals,” and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.
“I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling due to its vagueness,” said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, which counts representatives of Verizon, Verisign, Nortel, and Carnegie Mellon University on its board. “It is unclear what authority Sen. Rockefeller thinks is necessary over the private sector. Unless this is clarified, we cannot properly analyze, let alone support the bill.”
Representatives of other large Internet and telecommunications companies expressed concerns about the bill in a teleconference with Rockefeller’s aides this week, but were not immediately available for interviews on Thursday.
A spokesman for Rockefeller also declined to comment on the record Thursday, saying that many people were unavailable because of the summer recess. A Senate source familiar with the bill compared the president’s power to take control of portions of the Internet to what President Bush did when grounding all aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001. The source said that one primary concern was the electrical grid, and what would happen if it were attacked from a broadband connection.
When Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced the original bill in April, they claimed it was vital to protect national cybersecurity. “We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs–from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records,” Rockefeller said.
The Rockefeller proposal plays out against a broader concern in Washington, D.C., about the government’s role in cybersecurity. In May, President Obama acknowledged that the government is “not as prepared” as it should be to respond to disruptions and announced that a new cybersecurity coordinator position would be created inside the White House staff. Three months later, that post remains empty, one top cybersecurity aide has quit, and some wags have begun to wonder why a government that receives failing marks on cybersecurity should be trusted to instruct the private sector what to do.
Rockefeller’s revised legislation seeks to reshuffle the way the federal government addresses the topic. It requires a “cybersecurity workforce plan” from every federal agency, a “dashboard” pilot project, measurements of hiring effectiveness, and the implementation of a “comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy” in six months–even though its mandatory legal review will take a year to complete.
The privacy implications of sweeping changes implemented before the legal review is finished worry Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. “As soon as you’re saying that the federal government is going to be exercising this kind of power over private networks, it’s going to be a really big issue,” he says.
Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to “direct the national response to the cyber threat” if necessary for “the national defense and security.” The White House is supposed to engage in “periodic mapping” of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies “shall share” requested information with the federal government. (“Cyber” is defined as anything having to do with the Internet, telecommunications, computers, or computer networks.)
“The language has changed but it doesn’t contain any real additional limits,” EFF’s Tien says. “It simply switches the more direct and obvious language they had originally to the more ambiguous (version)…The designation of what is a critical infrastructure system or network as far as I can tell has no specific process. There’s no provision for any administrative process or review. That’s where the problems seem to start. And then you have the amorphous powers that go along with it.”
Translation: If your company is deemed “critical,” a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.
Read the rest HERE.
End note:
COMMON SENSE would tell any American that the cybernet is already patrolled by the CIA and the FBI, right?
Don’t the CIA and FBI have the powers for search warrants under the “Patriot Act” to find the source of cyber attacks and follow through?
WHY does there need to be a bill in Congress pertaining to this other that to “control what Americans SEE and HEAR”…….?
S.773: http://thomas.loc.gov
S.773
Title: A bill to ensure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications, to provide for the continued development and exploitation of the Internet and intranet communications for such purposes, to provide for the development of a cadre of information technology specialists to improve and maintain effective cybersecurity defenses against disruption, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Rockefeller, John D., IV [WV] (introduced 4/1/2009) Cosponsors (3)
Latest Major Action: 4/1/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
COSPONSORS:
Senator Evan Baynh[IN] – 4/2/2009
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Sen Nelson, Bill [FL] – 4/1/2009
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Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME] – 4/1/2009
Section 2, #5: John Brennan, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (Counterterrorism Czar) wrote on March 2, 2009, that `our nation’s security and economic prosperity depend on the security, stability, and integrity of communications and information infrastructure that are largely privately-owned and globally-operated.’.
Section 2 #11: The Center for Strategic and International Studies report on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency concluded that (A) cybersecurity is now a major national security problem for the United States, (B) decisions and actions must respect privacy and civil liberties, and (C) only a comprehensive national security strategy that embraces both the domestic and international aspects of cybersecurity will make us more secure. The report continued stating that the United States faces `a long-term challenge in cyberspace from foreign intelligence agencies and militaries, criminals, and others, and that losing this struggle will wreak serious damage on the economic health and national security of the United States.’.
SEC. 5. STATE AND REGIONAL CYBERSECURITY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.
(a) CREATION AND SUPPORT OF CYBERSECURITY CENTERS- The Secretary of Commerce shall provide assistance for the creation and support of Regional Cybersecurity Centers for the promotion and implementation of cybersecurity standards. Each Center shall be affiliated with a United States-based nonprofit institution or organization, or consortium thereof, that applies for and is awarded financial assistance under this section.
(b) PURPOSE- The purpose of the Centers is to enhance the cybersecurity of small and medium sized businesses in United States through–
- (1) the transfer of cybersecurity standards, processes, technology, and techniques developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to Centers and, through them, to small- and medium-sized companies throughout the United States;
- (2) the participation of individuals from industry, universities, State governments, other Federal agencies, and, when appropriate, the Institute in cooperative technology transfer activities;
- (3) efforts to make new cybersecurity technology, standards, and processes usable by United States-based small- and medium-sized companies;
- (4) the active dissemination of scientific, engineering, technical, and management information about cybersecurity to industrial firms, including small- and medium-sized companies; and
- (5) the utilization, when appropriate, of the expertise and capability that exists in Federal laboratories other than the Institute.
(d) COMPLIANCE ENFORCEMENT- The Director shall–
(1) enforce compliance with the standards developed by the Institute under this section by software manufacturers, distributors, and vendors; and
(2) shall require each Federal agency, and each operator of an information system or network designated by the President as a critical infrastructure information system or network, periodically to demonstrate compliance with the standards established under this section.
(e) FCC NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN- In developing the national broadband plan pursuant to section 6001(k) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Federal Communications Commission shall report on the most effective and efficient means to ensure the cybersecurity of commercial broadband networks, including consideration of consumer education and outreach programs.
Did Mark Lloyd, the new FCC “Diversity Czar” have something to do with this? Did Van Jones (his Color of Change.org has been trying to shut down Glenn Beck)?
John Brennan: Cybersecurity Czar
***Worked for Analysis Corp. at the same time the PASSPORT records of Obama,Clinton and McCain were “hacked”…….could it be to cover up Obama’s passport records as in traveling to Pakistan in 1981 (No AMERICA could travel to Pakistan then).
http://www.muckety.com/0E16974E5826B5C6CDF90B9F41A8E01E.map
John Brennan chief executive officer of the Analysis Corp. [was] rumored to be a possible candidate for CIA director in the Obama administration reports The Washington Post.
Brennan is a former top CIA official who helped establish the National Counterterrorism Center in 2004. He left the agency in 2005 to become CEO of Analysis Corp. …
Ironically in March an Analysis Corp. employee working at the State Department was accused of improperly accessing Barack Obama’s passport file. In a statement at the time Analysis Corp. said “We deeply regret that the incident occurred and believe it is an isolated incident.” …
He served as an advisor to the Obama campaign on national security and is the head of Obama’s intelligence transition team. …
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/33920-1.html
http://www.prplace.com/pr_thread/view/id-2409
WHY would a President put in as a CyberSecurity Czar the CEO of a company that “hacked” your own passport records during his Presidential campaign?……UNLESS; he was given the order to do so by either Axelrod or Emanuel……
The Center for Strategic and International Studies
1. Sam Nunn; Chairman of the Center, a DIRECTOR at GE, Director of Internet Security Systems, Inc. (lobbyist?), a director at Chevron corp, DELL, Inc.
2. Zbigniew Brzezinski; Board Member of the International Crisis Group, Member of the Trilateral Commission, daughter Mika tied to NBC and MSNBC.
3. The Pritzer Family Foundation with heavy ties to Chicago.
http://www.muckety.com/DD5C68624D6DABF50A0889A85C9FE299.map
Will the “private sector” computers include the leftist blogs like Huffington Post, Netroots Nation, The Open Left, My DD, Democracy NOW!, the SEIU blog, The Chief Organizer (Wade Rathke) blog?
Is this a way for an “end run” shut down of APPLE computer systems by Bill Gates of Microsoft? Think about that for a minute. Most computer systems run on “Windows” systems. Bill Gates has been a major funder of the LEFT foundations and a major contributor to Obama. If any intrustion software can be run and “kill switches” attached; it is as simple as allowing a “WINDOWS UPDATE” to load on your computer.
Or is this just a sinister way to shut down any opposing Obama internet systems?
The bill in Congress has a “broad” spectrum of what it includes that the overtaking of your computer is as quick as a Presidential pen stroke.
If the above is true……we are truly a Socialist nation headed to outright Communism!