October 26, 2017

New Democrat Coalition Unveils a Robust Cybersecurity Plan

Today the New Democrat Coalition, through the leadership of New Democrat Coalition Cybersecurity Task Force Co-Chairs Reps. Derek Kilmer, Kathleen Rice, Josh Gottheimer, unveiled a robust cyber policy plan. Recent high-profile cyber incidents and the rise of Ransomware have shown the very real consequences of cyber threats.  Cyber threats have evolved alongside new innovations so Congress must do more to secure our nation, families and businesses.

In this plan, the Task Force focuses on how to leverage public-private partnerships, such as those established under the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) that focus on resiliency and risk management, to strengthen our nation’s cyber defense and foster the development of greater cybersecurity both within the government and outside of the regulatory bureaucracy. The task force cut across siloed committees and collaborated with industry experts, thought leaders, and government agencies to identify several key issue areas and policy proposals. Specifically, the plan tackles five central themes:

  1. Fostering and encouraging public-private and industry-wide information sharing;
  2. Developing stronger defenses and partnerships to protect critical infrastructure against cyberattacks;
  3. Developing a strong cyber workforce pipeline and attracting them to both the private and public sectors;
  4. Investing in and developing stronger technologies and defenses for data and information security at the public sector, private sector, and individual levels;
  5. Securing and defending the Internet of Things (IoT).

"American families and businesses are seeing their information stolen and their bottom lines impacted each day by cyber-attacks. Bad actors operating around the world also threaten our utilities, our economy, and our very democracy. I'm glad New Dems have put together a clear strategy for how we can protect our country and its citizens," said Congressman Derek Kilmer.

“Right now, we are facing rising and rapidly evolving threats of cyberattacks against American government and private-sector systems , and we need to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for protecting people, businesses, and our government in the 21st century,” said Congresswoman Kathleen Rice. “The New Dems created this Task Force so that we can take the lead in this effort and help bring public- and private-sector leaders to the table to identify how we can do a better job confronting this threat together – by improving information-sharing practices, enhancing our cyber-defenses, investing in better information security technology, and developing the world-class cyber workforce we need in government and in the private sector. The policy plan we released today outlines the key principles and ideas that will help guide us in this effort, and I’m eager to work with my fellow co-Chairs to build the partnerships we need to start putting this plan into action.”

"Confronting digital security threats has been and remains critical. From ISIS to Russia and North Korea, we know that terrorists and foreign actors are looking to attack our cyber-vulnerabilities. We need to act now to detect, isolate, resolve and ultimately minimize the effect of any threat or attack" said Congressman Josh Gottheimer. "It is time for the country to develop a comprehensive cyber strategy and that starts with our comprehensive cybersecurity plan for the public and private sectors ."

The future of our nation’s economy, security, and our very democracy will depend on our ability to effectively operate in the cyber domain. As New Democrats, we stand ready to work across the aisle and with experts from the private sector to ensure we’re investing in our cyber workforce and infrastructure while protecting Americans and our democracy from future cyber threats.

The full plan can be found here



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