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Old 02-04-2010, 04:10 PM
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Default US House passes bill to bolster cybersecurity

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill aimed at protecting the Internet and vulnerable computer networks by funding cybersecurity research and training.

"Securing cyberspace is vitally important to both our safety and our national economy," Representative David Wu, a Democrat from Oregon, said following passage of the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act.

"We cannot stand by and let the most powerful tool for connecting Americans with each other and the world remain the Wild West of technology," he added.

The cybersecurity legislation, which was approved by a vote of 422 to five, allocates funding to improve cybersecurity in the federal government and the public and private sectors.

It calls for the training of a skilled workforce, cybersecurity research and development and public education efforts.

The US Senate is also considering cybersecurity legislation which contains more sweeping measures.

Passage of the House bill comes less than a month after Google revealed it was the target of a wave of cyberattacks originating in China and threatened to pull out of the country.

It also comes less than a week after the websites of 49 members of the House were attacked and defaced by hackers.

US Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told Congress on Tuesday that the attacks on Google were a "wake-up call" about the vulnerabilities of computer networks to attacks that could cripple the US economy.

Blair said vital telecommunications and information systems faced threats from "those who would steal, corrupt, harm or destroy the public and private assets vital to our national interests."

Representative Daniel Lipinski of Illinois, sponsor of the House bill, said as "reliance on information technology has increased, so has our vulnerability to cyberattacks.

"Cybercrime is a major problem for the government, for businesses, and indeed for every American," Lipinski, a Democrat, said in a statement.

"This bill will increase the security of vital and personal information by strengthening research partnerships among the federal government, the private sector and colleges and universities," he said.

The legislation notably calls for the National Science Foundation to award nearly 400 million dollars in computer and network security research grants.

The bill is the first major cybersecurity legislation passed since Barack Obama took office a little over a year ago.

In December, Obama named Howard Schmidt, a former Bush administration adviser and Microsoft executive, as his cybsersecurity coordinator.

No single US agency is currently charged with ensuring government cybersecurity efforts and US lawmakers had been calling for the creation of a powerful cybersecurity adviser reporting directly to the president.
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