GOP chairman: Cyberattacks are biggest threat to privacy

Congress must pass a cybersecurity bill this year to avoid “lasting harm” to the United States, said Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (Wis.).

Johnson, in the GOP’s weekly address on Saturday, argued that the danger from cyberattacks are the real threat to Americans’ privacy and pushed for robust legislation.

{mosads}“Reducing this threat would benefit every American,” he said. “Ignoring it will guarantee that future attacks will produce headlines describing lasting harm to America.”

Cyber legislation has been held up by concerns over the sharing of information between the private sector and the government.

Johnson expressed confidence for legislation, noting that Presidnet Obama is also pushing for a bill to increase cyber sharing. 

Obama has put a key focus on cybersecurity this year and signed an executive order last week in an attempt to allay some privacy worries over industry sharing sensitive data with the government. 

“Hopefully, now that the president has acknowledged cybersecurity as a priority, all interested parties will realize that the greater threat to Americans’ privacy and liberty really are the cyberattacks themselves,” Johnson said. 

The Intelligence Committee is slated to introduce a bill next week, expected to mirror last year’s controversial Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), with some stronger privacy protections.   

The bill is meant to encourage companies to share information by guarding them from the threat of lawsuits.

Johnson blasted “special interests” for derailing a proposal last year. 

In the address, Johnson said he is working with other committees on the issue. He has previously suggested he would wait to see the Intelligence Committee bill before deciding how his committee will act. 

“Enhancing America’s cybersecurity is a priority of my committee, and was the subject of my first hearing as chairman,” he said. “It is the focus of other committees in Congress, and we are working with them to craft a legislative solution that takes important first steps in mitigating the threat.”

Cyber attacks cost the country billions of dollars a year, he said, ticking off recent high-profile hacks on Sony Pictures and Anthem Healthcare, among others. 

Johnson said an attack on U.S. infrastructure, like the electrical grid, could put “American lives, and our very way of life at risk.”