White House Scales Back Cyberspace Plan
The White House today scaled back plans for a more active government role in protecting cyberspace from attacks from terrorists, criminals and nation states, emphasizing voluntary industry initiatives instead. The revamped national strategy on cyberspace security was a response to lobbying from industry groups that were worried about an overly heavy-handed approach by government regulators. The latest draft of the document acknowledges a role for government but generally suggests that industry should take the lead in securing the Internet, which has a diffuse infrastructure that is under considerable private control. Previous drafts of the report suggested that Congress could enact legislation to advance its cybersecurity strategy. This final version, which was released today, suggests mainly that Congress could finance cybersecurity initiative,s giving only a limited role to the federal government. Full Story