New Bill Would Put DHS In Charge of 'Critical' Private Networks

GovTechGuy writes "A new bill unveiled Wednesday by House Homeland Security chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) would give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to enforce federal cybersecurity standards on private sector companies deemed critical to national security. The Homeland Security Cyber and Physical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2010 authorizes DHS to establish and enforce risk and performance-based cybersecurity standards on federal agencies and private sector companies considered part of the country's critical infrastructure. Such firms include utilities, communications providers and financial institutions."

Comments

I'll sit over here

[Megaweapon]

and wait for the Republicans to fight this government intervention tooth and nail. .........

Competence

[Anonymous Coward]

Considering that the DHS is probably one of the most dysfunctional, incompetent departments in the entire federal government, I find that more frightening than the terrorists.

What's critical?

[girlintraining]

As we saw with anti-terrorism spending, what's deemed critical and what truly is hasn't exactly ever been the same.