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

What's the alternative

[jeffmeden]

Considering how much a lot of those companies rely on their network infrastructure, if there isn't a provision for this then perhaps the alternative is to be prepared to take over the whole organization if/when they are crippled by an attack. I am not one for heavy handed government but someone needs to light the fire under these guys.

Pirates, not terrorists, are probably first

[elrous0]

Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that this law will be applied WAY more often to fight torrent sites than it will ever be used to fight actual terrorists?