Obama to unveil several cybersecurity initiatives this week

Obama to unveil several cybersecurity initiatives this week

Published 12 January 2015

 

 

President Barack Obama, in anticipation of the 20 January State of the Union address, has been sharing details of his address to a generate buzz. This week, Obama will focus on cybersecurity initiatives, including identity theft and electronic privacy laws, aimed at protecting citizens and the private sector. Obama will also announce a policy package designed to provide affordable access to broadband Internet nationwide.

President Barack Obama, in anticipation of the 20 January State of the Union address, has been sharing details of his address to a generate buzz. “I didn’t want to wait for the State of the Union to talk about all the things that make this country great and how we can make it better, so I thought I’d get started this week,” Obama said last week in Michigan, where he discussed more plans for a rebounding U.S. auto industry. “I figured, why wait? It’s like opening your Christmas presents a little early.”
TheNew York Times reports that this week, Obama will focus on cybersecurity initiatives, including identity theft and electronic privacy laws, aimed at protecting citizens and the private sector.
Later today, speaking at the Federal Trade Commission, Obama will announce plans to tackle identify theft and improve consumer and student privacy. Last October, Obama signed an executive order creating the BuySecure Initiative that equipped government payment cards with chip and PIN technology that makes them more difficult to counterfeit. Today, Obama “will discuss the next steps in his BuySecure Initiative on consumer financial protection and new efforts to bring more innovation to the classroom by bringing peace of mind to educators and parents,” according to an official White House statement.
On Tuesday, at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, Obama will discuss plans to improve cyber information sharing between the private sector and federal government. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) would encourage the private sector to share information about cyberattacks with federal agencies specifically DHS and the Justice Department, and should shield them from some privacy protection laws. Previous attempts in Congress to pass an information sharing bill failed. Representative Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Maryland), a former top Democrat on the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, reintroduced the bill last week. The bill is likely to receive more support from a Republican-led Congress.
On Wednesday, Obama will be in Iowa to announce a policy package designed to provide affordable access to broadband Internet nationwide.
On Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden in Norfolk, Virginia, will announce new funding to help train more people to work in the cybersecurity industry. Last September, roughly $450 million dollars in grants were awarded to community colleges working with employers on cyber-related job training.
The move to make cybersecurity a key White House initiative in 2015, comes weeks after the Sony Hack and months after cyberattacks on several U.S. companies including banks, retailers, and other service providers. In February 2013, Obama issued an executive order to improve cybersecurity for critical infrastructure and in February 2014, the National Institute of Standards and Technology released the Cybersecurity Framework, a set of cybersecurity guidelines for businesses and organizations.