Cybersecurity, Data-mining warnings for Congress

The Department of Homeland Security is too reactionary to cybersecurity threats, policy experts said Wednesday, and needs to develop stronger incentives for the private sector to take preventative measures against cyberthreats. The DHS cybersecurity initiative has come under heavy criticism, and some have suggested responsibility for cybersecurity be shifted to the White House. Panelists at a roundtable discussion Wednesday hosted by the House of Representative's Homeland Security Committee agreed there could be stronger leadership, but they emphasized that there are potentially more effective means of improving the nation's response to cyberthreats. At the same event, policy experts warned Congress that the collection, retention, and dissemination of this information has dangerously escaped public oversight and congressional scrutiny. If the next Congress and administration do not take steps to rein in these programs that are bloating the federal government, they said, it will come at the expense of both civil liberties and national security.
DHS needs fresh ideas on cybersecurity, experts say