House Cybersecurity Caucus Launches Website
Site's Aim: Raise Awareness of Importance of Securing Key ITThe co-chairs of the caucus, Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Mike McCaul, R-Texas, said they see the page as a vehicle to raise awareness about the importance of securing the nation's cyber infrastructure. "We need to educate Americans so they have a clear understanding of how the threat has evolved the severity of it and the need to secure our networks," McCaul said in a statement.
Content, for now, is meager. A list of tips for individuals to secure their personal computers is found in the website's resources page as well as links to Langevin's and McCaul's press releases regarding cybersecurity in the site's media center. Under the section Facts and Figures, the congressmen offer tidbits such as more than 40,000 cyber attacks occurred against the Department of Defense in the first half of last year and that cyber criminals have stolen over $100 million from American banks.
Langevin and McCaul established the caucus in September 2008 to help raise awareness and provide a forum for House members representing different committees of jurisdiction to discuss the challenges in securing cyberspace. Both representatives also serve as co-chairs of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, whose recommendations have served as the basis for President Obama's cybersecurity policy and IT security legislation before Congress. A prominent link to the commission is found on the homepage of the caucus' webstie.