One day after the revelation of the mass breach of federal employee information, White House press secretary Josh Earnest pointed the finger at Congress for failing to pass President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity legislation.
“You’ll recall that shortly after returning from the holidays, the president rolled out very specific cybersecurity legislation that we called on Congress to pass,” Earnest said. “This is legislation that would make it easier for the private sector to share information about cyberthreats.”
"The fact is we need the United States Congress to come out of the dark ages and actually join us here in the 21st century to make sure we have the kind of defenses that are necessary to protect a modern computer system," Earnest continued.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Obama proposed a package to provide a 30-day notification for individuals for anyone that might be the target of a hacking; update law enforcement tools; and require more information-sharing between the private sector and law enforcement for protection of networks.
“The thing I would point out, since the president submitted those specific three pieces of legislation to Congress in January, and since he urged them to pass it in his State of the Union address, we’ve seen every little action from Congress,” Earnest said. “The fact of the matter is, what we need, not just improved efforts on the part of the federal government. We need to see improved coordination between the government and the private sector. That effort to coordinate requires congressional action.”
Though widely suspected to be a Chinese hacking, Earnest repeatedly denied to speculate on the culprits, only to say that the administration has raised concerns about the way China has acted in cyberspace.
He reminded the reporters at the briefing everyone – including the news media – could be prone to cyberthreats.
“This is a threat faced by federal government computer networks. It is a threat faced by state government computer networks,” Earnest said. “It is also a threat faced by private sector computer networks. It’s also a threat faced by news media organizations and their computer networks. We are mindful of all of that and we take that risk very serious.”
