Gonzalez & Burgess Call For Protections Against Hackers And Data Breaches

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October 07, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - U.S. Reps. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas) and Charles A. Gonzalez (D-Texas) have introduced House Concurrent Resolution 193, expressing the sense of Congress for the need to pass meaningful legislation to protect commercial and government data from data breaches.

"The safety of millions of American is put at risk because of the potential of unknown risk within the nation's data network," Congressman Burgess (TX-26) said. "It's time Congress got serious about enacting meaningful legislation that would put into place needed safeguards and protections to ensure cybersecurity for our nation's information infrastructure."

"Protecting our nations ‘against all enemies, foreign and domestic,' is part of the oath that every Member of Congress, federal agency head, and military officer takes, and I am proud that San Antonio is home to the Twenty-Fourth Air Force who are responsible for cyber warfare in the Department of Defense," said Congressman Gonzalez (TX-20). "But keeping our data, private as well as government, safe requires the efforts of all branches of government. HConRes 193 calls on the Congress to do our part in passing strong legislation to protect us on this new front and calls on leaders across our government to take action to ensure that no enemy ever turns the Internet against the United States."

"It's time for Congress to approve legislation that will hold both government and the private sector accountable for the security of sensitive consumer data in their possession," said Bill Conner, CEO of Entrust Inc. "It's in the absolute best interest of this country's citizens that Congress passes current cybersecurity legislation. Too many innocent victims have suffered as pending regulations sit idle awaiting action, approval or support."

Specifically, HConRes 193 expresses the sense of Congress that the House and Senate should enact into law a meaningful national standard to protect commercial and government data, that leadership at the top levels of government and private agencies should take an active role in ensuring that their systems are secure by making data security a priority within their institutions, and that sensitive data needs to be protected through meaningful encryption technology.

The resolution states, among many facts, that over 261 million records have been subject to a data breach in the US since January 2005 and almost 10 million adults in the US were victims of identity fraud in 2008. The resolution also notes that data breaches occur in a wide rage of institutions, including government, military, and educational agencies, and companies dealing in health care, banking, and credit and financial services.

Source: Rep. Charles A. Gonzalez