It's Tea Time

A new senate bill would give Obama the power to seize control of private networks in the case of a "cyber emergency". I feel safer already.

I think one of the more scary parts of the article is the following:

'The bill would also let the government create a detailed set of standards for licensing "cybersecurity professionals" who would oversee a single standard for security measures.'

Where exactly will the private market be in five years? If health care belongs to the government, and technology goes government via mandatory licensing, what's left? The government will be directly involved in every companies policies by proxy. Every "cybersecurity professional" will become an infectious agent of governmental policies, sent out across the country to infect private companies with their parasitic inefficiencies.

On the bright side, we get a new czar: The Cyber Czar!

In an effort to combat jurisdictional turf battles, Sen. Rockefeller introduced his proposal into two separate bills. S. 778 creates a new "Cyber Czar" within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Reform. Meanwhile, the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (S.773), would create a Cybersecurity Advisory Panel that would advise the President and be composed of outside experts from industry, academia, and nonprofit groups. The bill would also create a public-private clearinghouse for cyber threat and vulnerability information sharing, and establish measurable and auditable cybersecurity standards in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Furthermore, S. 773 creates a number of new Department of Commerce-related action items under the purview of the Cyber Czar. The administration reportedly provided support and assistance in drafting these bills and it is worth noting that Rockefeller and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) have both been very vocal regarding the importance of passing these initiatives.