Congressman McCaul Unveils Cybersecurity Recommendations to the 44th President

Press Release

As the United States becomes increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks, Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX 10) unveiled bi-partisan recommendations to President-elect Obama's administration for securing the country's government networks and critical infrastructure, including telecommunications, electrical and water.

"Cyber-warfare is the future of warfare," said Rep. McCaul, who along with Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) co-chaired the Center for Strategic and International Studies' (CSIS) Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th President.

"The computer networks that control our most sensitive information and our critical infrastructure should be guarded with the same vigilance as our airports and borders," said Rep. McCaul. "Failing to properly secure these systems gives cyber terrorists, criminals and governments of rogue nations, an open door to manipulating our financial markets, power grids and water supply, to stealing classified information, and causing major disruptions to our economy and vital services. We hope these recommendations will contribute to President Obama's efforts to secure our nation."

Committee hearings led by Reps. McCaul and Langevin revealed massive intrusions into the nation's federal networks. One series of heists included data dumps equivalent in size to the Library of Congress. One operation discovered a vulnerability in which generators that run our power grids could be blown up by the mere click of a mouse. "Simply put, the United States is under attack in cyberspace and we are losing this war," Rep. McCaul said.

The report, "Securing Cyberspace in the 44th Presidency", was released in Washington and includes 25 recommendations. Aggregately, they urge the President to restructure the federal government's management and oversight of Cyber Security; elevate the responsibility to an Executive Office; create a global alliance to establish guidelines for Cyber Security and intelligence sharing; and figure out how to better and more timely detect a threat, identify the hackers and how to best respond to a security breach including the possible use of military force.

One excerpt from the report (page 13) describes the urgency to secure the nation's critical infrastructure:

Exploiting vulnerabilities in cyber infrastructure will be part of any future conflict. If opponents can access a system to steal information, they can also leave something behind that they can trigger in the event of a conflict or crisis. Porous information systems have allowed our opponents to map our vulnerabilities and plan their attacks. Depriving Americans of electricity, communications and financial services may not be enough to provide the margin of victory in a conflict, but it could damage our ability to respond and our will to resist. We should expect that exploiting vulnerabilities in cyber infrastructure will be part of any future conflict.

The non-partisan Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th President is composed of more than 40 renowned cybersecurity experts from across the country. The goal of the Commission is to develop recommendations for a comprehensive strategy to improve cyber security in federal systems and in critical infrastructure. Rep. McCaul's fellow co-chairs are Congressman Langevin, Scott Charney (Vice President of Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft Corp.), and Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege (USAF-Ret.), Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency; Commander, Joint Task Force - Global Network Operations; and Deputy Commander for Global Network Operations and Defense, U.S. Strategic Command Joint Forces Headquarters - Information Operations.

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