McCaul Applauds President's First Steps on Cybersecurity
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), who co-chaired the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th President, applauded the initial efforts of the Obama administration toward securing America’s vast government and private computer networks from deliberate attacks.
"This is a good start. It was important for the president to elevate this threat and coordinate the efforts to combat cyber crimes in the White House," said Rep. McCaul. "Too often our defense and intelligence communities have not communicated effectively, and as a result our critical infrastructure has proven vulnerable."
While praising the placement of a cybersecurity coordinator in the White House, who will report to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council, Congressman McCaul looks forward to more details of the President’s plan, particularly on how much authority and access to the President this coordinator will have.
Rep. McCaul also praised assurances that cybersecurity will not come at the expense of privacy. According to the White House a privacy officer will work with the coordinators and the government will not monitor private-sector networks or Internet traffic.
Congressman McCaul, Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee and whose background is counterterrorism, worked with CSIS for more than one year to produce recommendations to the 44th President. They were made public in December and were incorporated into the President’s cybersecurity strategy.
"Cyber-warfare is the future of warfare," said Rep. McCaul when the recommendations were first made public. "The computer networks that control our most sensitive information and our critical infrastructure should be guarded with the same vigilance as our airports and borders. Failing to properly secure these systems gives cyber terrorists, criminals and governments of rogue nations, an open door to manipulating our financial markets, power grids and water supply, to stealing classified information, and causing major disruptions to our economy and vital services."
Committee hearings led by Reps. McCaul and Jim Langevin (D-RI) revealed massive intrusions into the nation’s federal networks. One series of heists included data dumps equivalent in size to what is stored in the Library of Congress.