Bill Would Have Businesses Foot Cost of Cyberwar

A look at the week of May 7 in public advocacy for the IT channel:  This week, all eyes are on cybersecurity.  Senior military leaders recommended that the Pentagon’s cyberwarfare unit be elevated to full combatant command status.  A National Preparedness Report commissioned by President Obama found that state and local officials are most concerned about the government’s ability to respond to a cyberattack.  Where the responsibility lies in protecting the computers that control critical U.S. infrastructure is in question among business leaders and national security experts.

Military Leaders Seek Higher Profile for Pentagon’s Cyber Command Unit — Senior military leaders are recommending that the Pentagon’s two-year-old cyberwarfare unit be elevated to full combatant command status, sending a signal to adversaries that the U.S. military is serious about protecting its ability to operate in cyberspace, officials said.  Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will recommend the change to Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, officials told Washington Post.

U.S. Study Cites Worries on Readiness for Cyberattacks — A study commissioned by President Obama to assess the nation’s ability to respond to terrorist attacks as well as man-made and natural disasters has found that state and local officials have the most confidence in their public health and medical services but are the most concerned regarding agencies’ ability to respond to cyberattacks, says New York Times. The first-of-its-kind National Preparedness Report was conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to serve as a baseline for preparedness.

Bill Would Have Businesses Foot Cost of Cyberwar — The cybersecurity debate is complicated by one central fact: most critical elements of U.S. infrastructure are generally in private hands. In the event of a cyber attack on computer networks that control those systems, the companies that own them would have to secure their networks themselves because there is no national cyber army to defend them. Business executives and national security leaders agree on the need to improve the security of these networks but they divide over the question of who bears responsibility for that effort, reports NPR.