National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Chairman, over the past 40 years, we have experienced advancements in information technology that literally have transformed business, education, government; it has even transformed our culture.

Information research that only a couple of decades ago would take days, months, maybe even years to accomplish is available, quite literally, at our fingertips and instantaneously.

Other aspects of our lives have also been shaped by this immediate access to information. Shopping, you can go shopping without ever going to a store. You can conduct financial transactions without ever going to a bank. You can even have access to entertainment without ever going to a theater.

These advancements in technology have not only transformed the way we access and store information, but it has also transformed the way we communicate.

No longer is instantaneous voice-to-voice communication only available through a phone call, but people around the world instantly connect with one another with a variety of methods, from email, instant text messaging, even video conferencing, and this can be all down while you are on the move. You don't even have to be chained to a desk or in your business office.

Really, every aspect of our culture has been affected by the advancements in information technology, and, for the most part, our lives have been improved by these advancements.

As an IT professional, with 30-plus years' experience in both the military and private sector, I know firsthand the benefits of this instant access to endless amounts of information, but, on the other hand, I know all too well the vulnerabilities of these systems.

For the past 20 years, I have assisted businesses and governments to automate their operations and ensure they can access their networks anytime and from anywhere.

However, this global access to information requires a global interconnection of these systems. At almost any time during the day, Americans are connected to this global network through their phones, tablets, health monitors, and car navigation systems. Even home security systems are now connected to the Internet.

We have become dependent on this interconnection and so have the businesses and government entities that provide crucial services that we rely on, but as our dependence on technology has grown, so have our vulnerabilities.

Cyberspace is the new battleground, a battleground for a multitude of adversaries. Foreign nations, international terrorist organizations, and organized crime regularly target our citizens, businesses, and government.

Unlike traditional combat operations, cyber attackers don't require sophisticated weaponry to carry out their warfare. On the cyber battlefield, a single individual with a laptop computer can wreak havoc on business, the economy, even our critical infrastructure.

In the past several months, we have seen an increasing number of cyber attacks on national security systems and private company networks, breaching critical information. Earlier this year, Anthem BlueCross BlueShield's IT system was hacked by a highly sophisticated cyber attacker, obtaining personal employee and consumer data, including names, Social Security numbers, and mailing addresses.

An old adage among IT professionals states: There are two types of computer users, those who have been hacked and those who don't know that they have been hacked.

Today, this is truer than ever before. The incredible advancements made by the IT industry over the past three decades have been predominantly due to the competitive nature of the free market.

Without the overbearing constraints of government bureaucracy, oversight, and regulation, technology entrepreneurs have had the freedom to bring new innovations to the market with little cost and in record amount of time.

It is clear that our greatest advancements in technology have come from the private sector. That is why it is imperative that the government partner with the private sector to combat cyber attacks against our Nation.

The bill being debated in this House today, the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act, puts in place a framework for voluntary partnership between government and the private sector to share information to protect against and combat against cyber attacks.

Through this voluntary sharing of critical information, businesses and government will voluntarily work together to respond to attacks and to prevent our enemies from corrupting networks, attacking our highly sensitive data systems, and compromising our personal privacy information.

While protecting individual privacy, this legislation also includes liability protections for the sharing of cyber threat information and thereby promotes information sharing that enhances the national cybersecurity posture.

We are no longer solely dealing with groups of hackers and terrorists, but individuals who target large networks, corrupt our database, and get hold of private material.

With today's evolving technology, we must make sure we are affirming individual privacy rights and safeguarding both government and private sector databases from cyberterrorism.

Protecting the civil liberties of the citizens of the United States is a top priority for me, and it should be for this Congress.

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Mr. LOUDERMILK. That is why I do support H.R. 1731, because it provides that framework of cooperation between the government and the private industry, and it provides the protections and liability protections our industries need.

We must have this bill. I do stand in support of it, and I thank you for allowing me this time to speak.

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