THOMPSON/LIEBERMAN
ANNOUNCE HEARING TO BETTER PROTECT GOVERNMENT COMPUTERS FROM
CYBERATTACK
Washington,
DC -- Senate Governmental Affairs Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) and
Ranking Member Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT) announced today that the
Committee will hold a March 2 hearing to discuss the security of the
federal government’s information systems.
"We
know that federal agencies continue to use a band-aid approach to
computer security rather than addressing the systemic problems which
make government systems vulnerable to repeated computer attacks,"
said Thompson. "Hopefully, the recent breaches of security at the
various ‘dot.com’ companies is the wake-up call needed to focus
attention on the security of government computer systems. This
Committee has been looking at the federal government's use of
computers since the passage of the Brooks Act in 1965. Since I became
chairman of the Committee in 1997, we heave heard from security
experts, senior government officials and the General Accounting Office
about the persistent security risks associated with the government’s
information holdings."
Senator
Lieberman added, "The simple and frightening fact is, government
computer systems are vulnerable to the kinds of attacks e-businesses
have been suffering lately - and worse. Lax government computer
security threatens our national security, our transportation and
emergency services, our banking and finance. And if this weren't
cataclysmic enough, it also leaves the most personal information of
all our taxpayers - our veterans, our elderly, our sick - vulnerable
to exposure and exploitation. Scores of government systems have
already been hacked although fortunately, none of the intrusions to
date has been damaging. But let's face it: it's only a matter of
time."
The March
2 hearing will explore the human side of computer security as it
relates to successfully implementing a sound government computer
security program.
On
November 19, 1999, Thompson and Lieberman introduced S. 1993, the
Government Information Security Act that provides a framework for how
the government could make its systems more secure while simultaneously
providing continuous, uninterrupted services to the public. The
legislation is based on Governmental Affairs Committee hearings and a
GAO best practices study.
