Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of the leading voices in Congress for comprehensive cyber security legislation to improve the protection of the nation’s private critical infrastructure, said recently that she opposes a possible presidential order that would temporarily try to staunch some of the gaps in the nation’s cyber defenses.
Collins said that issuing an executive order on cyber security would be a “big mistake,” saying she has “urged” President Obama not pursue it in favor of continuing work with Congress on a cyber security bill.
Collins cited several reasons for opposing the executive order, which is still being drafted and as of late last week hadn’t been reviewed by Obama yet, including a concern that it would “lull people into a false sense of security that we’ve taken care of cyber security. And the executive order simply cannot do that.”
Other shortcomings in the pending executive order include the fact that it would be temporary, that it would not reflect a consensus by Congress, and that it can’t offer liability protections for sharing data about cyber threats, which would be an incentive for the private sector to participate, Collins said at a Wilson Center event to discuss cyber security.
Collins along with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I/D-Conn.) and several other senators crafted a comprehensive cyber security bill that failed to come to a vote in the Senate this summer despite making a key concession to Republican opponents of the measure that would have allowed private sector critical infrastructure operators to voluntarily submit to minimum cyber standards. She said yesterday that the change to the Cyber Security Act likely didn’t garner a single additional vote for the bill.
Contrary to Collins’ stance on the executive order, Lieberman last month said he is encouraged by the prospects of the pending action.
Collins did say that she share’s Obama’s frustration with Congress over the failure to pass cyber security legislation. The prospects for the bill this year appear dim at best.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in discussing the draft executive order, declined to say when it would be released. At a Senate hearing last month Napolitano said another weakness in the executive order is that it can’t be used to increase criminal penalties for cyber criminals.