Shadow
08-02-2012, 10:34 PM
(CNN) -- The most comprehensive cybersecurity legislation proposed by Congress, which sponsors say would have helped protect the government and industry from potentially devastating cyberattacks, was voted down in the Senate Thursday.
The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 would have given the government the three legislative elements it needs to fend off cyberattacks, according to John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. Those are new threat-information-sharing between the government and private industry, better protection of critical infrastructure such as the power grid and water filtration facilities, and authority for the Department of Homeland Security to unite federal resources to lead the government's cybersecurity team.
Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, introduced the bill.
"This is a moment of disappointment that I really cannot conceal," Lieberman said after the vote. "But the threat of cyberattack is so real, so urgent and so clearly growing that I am not going to be petulant about this."
On a telephone conference all with reporters Wednesday, Brennan and with other administration officials urged Congress to pass the bill.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/02/politics/cybersecurity-act/index.html?hpt=hp_bn3
The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 would have given the government the three legislative elements it needs to fend off cyberattacks, according to John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. Those are new threat-information-sharing between the government and private industry, better protection of critical infrastructure such as the power grid and water filtration facilities, and authority for the Department of Homeland Security to unite federal resources to lead the government's cybersecurity team.
Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, introduced the bill.
"This is a moment of disappointment that I really cannot conceal," Lieberman said after the vote. "But the threat of cyberattack is so real, so urgent and so clearly growing that I am not going to be petulant about this."
On a telephone conference all with reporters Wednesday, Brennan and with other administration officials urged Congress to pass the bill.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/02/politics/cybersecurity-act/index.html?hpt=hp_bn3