JANUARY
7, 2000
THOMPSON/LIEBERMAN
-- AUTHORS OF BILL TO PROTECT AGAINST CYBERTERRORISM – COMMENT
ON ADMINISTRATION’S PLAN PROTECTING AMERICA FROM TECH ATTACKS
(Washington,
DC) -- Earlier today President Clinton issued the
Administration's Cyberterrorism plan designed to protect federal
assets from attack. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
Chairman Fred Thompson said, "Over the last several
Congresses, the Governmental Affairs Committee has been
investigating federal computer security only to find extensive
weaknesses that affect every American's health, safety, national
security and economic well being. For this reason, I am pleased
to see the Administration focusing its attention on this
important issue."
As a
result of the Governmental Affairs Committee work in the area of
information security and cyberterrorism, Chairman Thompson and
Senator Lieberman recently introduced S. 1993, the Government
Information Security Act of 1999, a bill to protect federal
government information systems from cyberattack. This
legislation will be a priority item of the Committee’s agenda
during the upcoming session of Congress.
"The
federal computer system needs to catch up to the complexities of
the digital age," added Senator Lieberman. "So, I
congratulate the President for moving ahead on this critically
important initiative and look forward to working with Chairman
Thompson and the Administration to find a remedy. The
Governmental Affairs Committee has held numerous hearings on
computer security problems in federal agencies and has worked
extensively with the General Accounting Office on a number of
reports. Although we have many laws addressing computer
security, they are inadequate for today's interconnected
environment. We hope to legislate further to consolidate those
laws, reemphasize the importance of the issue and address recent
developments, such as vulnerabilities created by the rapid pace
of technological advance."
Over
the last decade, the federal government, like most
private-sector organizations, has become enormously dependent on
interconnected computer systems, including the Internet, to
support its operations and account for its assets. This
explosion in interconnectivity has resulted in many benefits.
But the factors that generate these benefits -- widely
accessible data and instantaneous communication -- also increase
the risks that the information will be misused, possibly to
commit fraud or other crimes, or that sensitive information will
be inappropriately disclosed.
Thompson
noted, "At first glance, the plan seems to underline and
highlight critical concerns which need to be addressed in order
to combat cyberterrorism. However, proposals dealing with
training security personnel, research and development funding,
and the Federal Intrusion Detection network will need to be
studied further to determine if these are the appropriate
solutions."
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