Feds not best guard of cyberspace

[Commentary] More than 90 percent of the nation’s critical information infrastructure is operated by the private sector. Protecting cyberspace, however, is not just about securing our nation’s critical information infrastructure, but promoting economic security.

The online and physical worlds have become so intertwined that vulnerabilities in the information infrastructure now pose real risks to physical establishments and individuals. One can easily envision a situation in which a hacker could electronically break into a critical infrastructure and cause the failure of a physical establishment — such as a hospital — which would result in serious injury or death. While the government has a crucial role to play, any policy to improve private-sector cybersecurity should not be overly burdensome and counterproductive to economic prosperity. Regulatory mandates are not only unlikely to lead to private-sector cybersecurity improvements, they would likely hinder economic growth. [Rep Goodlatte is chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet]