Wednesday, March 21, 2012

'System is Blinking Red': Alarming Rhetoric in Push for Cybersecurity Bills

Sasso, Brendan. "'System is Blinking Red': Alarming Rhetoric in Push for Cybersecurity Bills." The Hill, March 17, 2012.

From the article: "Lawmakers and administration officials have warned of potentially catastrophic consequences if Congress doesn't pass cybersecurity legislation this year, but some observers question whether the rhetoric is overblown. "Think about how many people could die if a cyber terrorist attacked our air traffic control system and planes slammed into one another," Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) testified at a Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing last month. "Or if rail-switching networks were hacked — causing trains carrying people, or hazardous materials — to derail and collide in the midst of some of our most populated urban areas, like Chicago, New York, San Francisco or Washington."

At the hearing, committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he feels like it's Sept. 10 2001, on the eve of a devastating terrorist attack." Read more