Government Contracts Monitor

IT Industry Focus: Congress Will Look to Private Sector to Enhance Cybersecurity

May 26, 2010

Cybersecurity threats pose some of the most important challenges facing the United States today.  However, unlike other types of critical infrastructure, cyberspace cannot be protected by the government alone.

Congress is currently crafting a series of legislative initiatives that will use the federal government's procurement system to demand better cybersecurity features in information technology (IT) products by relying on private sector expertise.  Congress hopes these efforts will result in public-private partnerships (PPPs) aimed at developing better cybersecurity measures.  Importantly, the legislation accommodates and promotes emerging technologies rather than endorsing or discriminating against particular products.

At a recent American Bar Association forum on cybersecurity, Senate Homeland Security Committee staff member, Deborah Parkinson, noted that legislation likely to be introduced by Senator Lieberman in the coming weeks would focus on collaboration with IT industry stakeholders to establish higher performance standards and better information sharing between the public and private sectors.

The proposed legislation also aims to heighten the priority given to cybersecurity by the acquisition community and to ensure that contracting personnel "have the knowledge they need about the vulnerabilities in products."  The proposed legislation focuses on efforts to recruit and retain federal employees with cybersecurity experience.  It also promotes the area of cybersecurity in the Department of Homeland Security and creates a White House cybersecurity officer ("cyber czar").

 

Jackson Kelly will be following the Lieberman bill and related cybersecurity legislation in the coming months.  Stay tuned for additional updates.