Part C

The Impact of the Issue

There are many advantages when it comes to the president having the ability to shut down private sector computers in a “cybersecurity emergency”. One of these advantages is that the creator of the bill, a man named Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) he claimed it was vital to protect national cybersecurity. “We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs–from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records,” Rockefeller said (Adams 2009). Another advantage, however it can also be seen as a disadvantage, is thatIf your company is deemed “critical,” a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.
The Internet Security Alliance’s Clinton adds that his group is “supportive of increased federal involvement to enhance cyber security, but we believe that the wrong approach, as embodied in this bill as introduced, will be counterproductive both from an national economic and national security perspective” (Adams 2009).

However there are some disadvantages too. A Senate source familiar with the bill compared the president’s power to take control of portions of the Internet to what President Bush did when grounding all aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001 (Adams 2009). The source said that one primary concern was the electrical grid, and what would happen if it were attacked from a broadband connection. Also other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for “cybersecurity professionals,” and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license (Reich 2009). To complete this project, it requires a “cybersecurity workforce plan” from every federal agency, a “dashboard” pilot project, measurements of hiring effectiveness, and the implementation of a “comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy” in six months–even though its mandatory legal review will take a year to complete (The Washington Times, 2009).