Security

Cyber-security policy locks down lobbyist job security

President Barack Obama promised a bipartisan effort, and in terms of his cyber-security strategy, so far the plan looks remarkably like the 2008 plan recommended by a bipartisan group of computer security experts. The focus is to protect U.S. networks from cyber attack and to increase investment and research on cyber security.

You know that means network regulation to combat cyber crime and increase computer network security, among other things. The new Administration wants to partner with industry to secure personal data stored on government and private systems, with a standard that secures data across industries.

The new Administration’s cyber-security plan hit the Whitehouse.gov website as part of a policy document on homeland security. It’s reassuring to know that the first Blackberry-carrying president believes cyber infrastructure is a strategic asset and may create a national cyber advisor who will report directly to him (hopefully in person, since cyber-impersonation is easier than anyone wants to think, according to security expert Bruce Schneier in his Crypto-Gram newsletter).

What else? The Administration wants to work with industry and academia to develop and deploy a new generation of secure hardware and software, work with the private sector to establish tough standards for cyber security and physical resilience, and a number of additional business and personal security.

Telecom industry lobbyists are no doubt loading their briefcases to make the case for what they want, as well as what they can live with. Stay tuned.