Is the Oministry Seeking to Nationalize Private Cybersecurity?

We received the following from CEI today:

According to a breaking news report by CNET’s Declan McCullagh, a draft bill in the U.S. Senate would grant President Obama “cybersecurity emergency powers” to disconnect and even seize control of private sector computers on the Internet.  Back in May, when Obama proposed a “cybersecurity czar with a broad mandate” and the administration issued a report outlining potential vulnerabilities in the government’s information security policies, CEI Director of Technology Studies Wayne Crews cautioned about “the constant temptation by politicians in both parties to expand government authority over ‘critical’ private networks.”

“From American telecommunications to the power grid, virtually anything networked to some other computer is potentially fair game to Obama to exercise ‘emergency powers,’” Crews said today.  “Policy makers should be suspicious of proposals to collectivize and centralize cybersecurity risk management, especially in frontier industries like information technology.  When government asserts authority over security technologies, it hinders the evolution of more robust information security practices and creates barriers to non-political solutions—both mundane and catastrophic.  The result is that we become less secure, not more secure.”

Instead, Crews had urged the Obama Administration to focus on “securing government networks and keeping government agencies on the cutting edge of communications technology.”  As today’s news illustrates, the dangers created by such a “broad mandate” may come to pass.

Also see:

• Obama’s Cyber Czar Should Obey “Cybersecurity Commandment
• OpenMarket.org for ongoing commentary on tech issues
• Cybersecurity Finger-pointing: Regulation vs. Markets for Software Liability, Information Security, and Insurance
• Cybersecurity and Authentication: The Marketplace Role in Rethinking Anonymity – Before Regulators Intervene
• Giving Chase in Cyberspace Does Vigilantism Against Hackers and File-sharers Make Sense?

 

Hot Air’s Allahpundit: Insert “What if Bush did it?” hypothetical here.