Cybersecurity bill seeks to give president new powers over private-sector networks

April 3, 2009 (Computerworld) A wide-ranging cybersecurity bill introduced in the U.S. Senate this week would give the president unprecedented new powers to disconnect government and private-sector networks from the Internet in the event of security emergencies. But that provision is expected to be a hard sell in Congress.

The proposed bill, formally known as the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, was filed on Wednesday by Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). The legislation includes a long list of provisions that would give federal officials significant new authority to set and enforce data security standards for federal agencies, government contractors and key parts of the private sector.