US may soon get a “cyber tsar”
Published: 27 May, 2009, 12:46
Edited: 18 February, 2010, 21:40
TAGS: SciTech, Protest, Human rights
President Obama is expected to announce his decision to appoint a senior White House official who will be in charge of protecting the nation's networks aimed at preventing cyber attacks on various sectors.
American internet users are asking themselves whether they are living in a slowly but surely culture of surveillance. The debate is whether the appointment is in the interests of national security or is the federal government merely snooping on internet users, looking at what they are reading, watching or sharing?
Interestingly, there is a bill currently making its way through Congress which, if passed, will result in a major power shift over the internet from private users and companies to the federal government. This means that government will have unprecedented power over the internet.
Barack Obama drafted his campaign aiming to make cyber security a top priority in his administration, so the appointment of a cyber tsar reporting directly to the president is no surprise. The appointed person will be able to tell Barack Obama, at any time, about whatever happens in the virtual world.
It is obvious that Obama’s administration is taking some drastic steps in this issue.
US research and analyses has shown that if a full-scale internet crisis was to happen right now, the US government would not be able to deal with it because there is no central cyber command.
American governmental officials are desperately trying to avoid what they call a “cyber Katrina”. All these different fragmented departments of the government and different bureaucracies do not share information with each other.
In case of a major internet crisis they would not be able to come out with an adequate concerted response and that is what the US governmental officials are really trying to avoid.
One central cyber commander will ensure that all different cyber agencies will respond to a common threat concurrently.
27.05.2009, 11:44
Russian cities poorly equipped for disabledBureaucracy can be a big enough challenge in Russia, even if you're able-bodied, but if you're living with a disability and the nearest form of transport is far away, dealing with it can become a nightmare. |
27.05.2009, 15:04
Soyuz blasts off to spaceThe Russian Soyuz spacecraft has lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, beginning its historic mission that will double the crew of the International Space Station. |
It seemed that the US govt. recently like to use fear to introduce alot of draconian measures to impose on the freedom on its people and then later to the rest of the world...... detention without trial (patriot act)/ airport security measures/ body scanners etc... but the irony is that US always criticized about other communist countries like Russia or China for not caring about human rights and freedom etc, and now they are doing exactly the same or even more. US govt seemed to be more like "BIG Brother" now than ever before with this 'Cybe tsar" move......and with the recent govt bailouts on the financial firms, technically speaking aren't such actions very socialistic/communistic??...... I really hope the Amercian people would really wake up and do something about it before it is too late.......Sigh....