rockefeller calls for 'public-private action' on cybersecurity

from fcw: Cyberattacks aren’t confined by governmental or national boundaries, and neither should cybersecurity programs, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), said recently in calling on government and industry to work together to meet the rapidly rising tide of attacks on U.S. information systems.

“National borders and traditional notions of security do not always apply to 21st--century threats, especially in the cybersecurity arena,” he said April 29 at the Business Software Alliance’s Cybersecurity Forum 2010 in Washington. “The idea that government alone can protect our citizens’ security within clear national borders is outdated. Therefore, to secure our country from cyberattacks we must have shared responsibility — public sector and private sector.”

Rockefeller’s bill (S. 773), co-sponsored with Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), was approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee March 24. It builds on the idea that cybersecurity is a shared responsibility between the public and private sectors, Rockefeller said. “That’s what this whole bill is about,” he said. Rockefeller chairs the committee.

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