Senate will debate one more Obama 'czar,' this time for cybersecurity

Yesterday, the US Dept. of Homeland Security issued a statement that was intended to soothe the public's fears regarding the impending payload activation of the dreaded Conficker worm -- a piece of malware whose impact on this week's news cycle easily outweighed its impact on networks. That statement made news in itself, though, by referring to a sophisticated free tool for securing networks based on the latest research, but noting that tool was being released only for government agencies and their direct partners.

It revealed the priorities of DHS in a world that's legitimately threatened by malicious developments with far more potentially serious repercussions than Conficker. Now, a bill introduced today in Congress by Sens. Olympia Snowe (R - Maine) and Jay Rockefeller (D - W.V.) -- one which was being drafted two weeks ago -- would relieve DHS from the responsibility of reacting to Internet threats, and most likely relocate the US-CERT response team to another node of the executive branch.

The bill would create the office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor, reporting directly to Pres. Obama, and coordinating with intelligence officials as well as representatives from the private sector. The last publicly release of the bill's draft was two weeks ago; significant changes are likely to have been made since then, and the bill as introduced today has yet to be reported by the Library of Congress.

Daring to remind the public of the government's historic failure to respond to Hurricane Katrina -- during the time when her party was in power in the executive branch -- Sen. Snowe commented this afternoon: "Our failure to implement effective policies and procedures to protect critical infrastructure, prevent invasive intrusion, and conduct an aggressive threat assessment has proven extremely consequential, putting the American information system at grave risk. It is abundantly clear we must unite on all fronts to confront this monumental challenge, if we fail to take swift action, we, regrettably, risk a 'cyber-Katrina.'"

Snowe's office added that the structure of the new presidential office would effectively streamline the size of government with respect to this issue, implying that removing cybersecurity responsibility from DHS could result in a net savings for taxpayers.

The new bill comes at an opportune time: right in the middle of the new administration's 60-day review of federal cybersecurity (which Melissa Hathaway, Mr. Obama's appointee, may yet finish in the nick of time) and as pressure increases on DHS secretary Janet Napolitano to improve her department's management in this area.