By Technology Association of Oregon.
Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014 was passed to the President for his signature. This is a comprehensive Act that has gotten broad industry and consumer advocacy support. The Bill and now the Act has been around for a while and it has been modified in both houses and received a tremendous amount of commentary. It is a good piece of legislation.
Since late 2013 I have been actively involved with the development of the Center for Cyber Excellence in the State of Oregon. Currently there is a Bill begin prepared for the State’s 2015-2016 biennium and I am hopeful that we will soon have a single source of support in the state for Cyber related activities.
If you review the goals of the Oregon Center of Excellence (OCOE), you will see that our plans dovetail perfectly into the core principles of the Act.
Cyber Standards – creates an industry-driven process for creating voluntary cybersecurity critical infrastructure standards under the watchful eye of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will be “non-regulatory, non-prescriptive and technology neutral”;
R&D – coordinates and “strengthens cybersecurity R&D;
Workforce & Education – boost cybersecurity education and awareness; and
Public Awareness – “advances” technical standards.
Reframing the concept of an “Agricultural Extension Service” was our goal in designing the OCOE. Just as a farmer would go to the extension service office to discuss the health of their crops and seek advice for improvement, the OCOE offers industry, law enforcement and consumers a place to come for Cyber advice and education.
For America, this Act opens the door for collaboration through public and private partnerships to accelerate our ability to fight cyber-crime. All I need to say here is Sony, Target, Home Depot, Michaels or any of the other major breaches that have occurred this year.
I won’t elaborate on my own political frustrations with this Congress – FYI, fewer than 30 bills in total have been sent to the President for signature. What I will say is that this is a good bill that should have reached the President many, many months ago and now that it is finished – please Mr. President, SIGN IT!
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