Lieberman CyberSecurity Bill Faces Mixed Reaction

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman is facing mixed reaction to his proposed cyber-security bill.  The Protect CyberSpace as a National Asset Act  gives the President emergency authority over certain broadband providers or search engines in the event of a major cyber-attack. 

Speaking last week on CNN, Lieberman said a cyber attack on America could do as much damage as a conventional war attack by shutting down the nation’s banks, transportation and communication systems. "And the president in catastrophic cases, not going to do it every day..not going to take it over..so I say to my friends in the internet..relax. Take a look at the bill. And this is something that we need to protect our country. Right now China, the government can disconnect parts of its internet in the case of war. We need to have that here too" 

"The threats of course are real and we don’t deny that" Mark Rotenberg is Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington DC. Speaking on WNPR’s Where We Live, he says US policies on cyber-security must be open and accountable."..cause the other problem that happens sometimes in this area is you give an agency a lot of authority and they operate in secret. You don’t actually know if they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing and other problems occur.  So we continue to press on the Congress to insure a more transparent approach to the threat of cyberwar."

Lieberman is chairman the Senate Committee on Homeland Security which has approved the bill.  

For WNPR, I'm Diane Orson.