Merely a week after cybersecurity took center stage on Capitol Hill, the
Cybersecurity Act of 2012 was rejected on a 52-46 vote. The bill’s failure likely means that legislative action on cybersecurity will be on hold until 2013. The bill, introduced by Sens.
Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and
Susan Collins (R-ME), was intended to protect the nation from cyberattacks against critical infrastructure such as the electrical grid, banking systems, transportation networks and others.
Although the Cybersecurity Act is dead for now, the threat of cyberattacks on America is alive and growing fast. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, head of the National Security Agency, said that there had been a
17-fold increase in computer attacks on American infrastructure between 2009 and 2011. Alexander, who also heads the newly created United States Cyber Command, appears to be the first government official to publicly acknowledge the vast number of threats to America’s electricity grids, water supplies, computer and cellphone networks, and other critical infrastructure.
Senate members are out for August recess, and have less than two weeks’ of working days scheduled before the election. Despite the growing number of threats, there’s no telling if cybersecurity will be taken up during that small window.
For more on cybersecurity, check out some of the
research published by TAP scholars.