Cybersecurity is and is going to be a significant issue in the years to come.  Some of the latest legislative action on this front is the proposed Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which would among other things:

• Establish the Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor within the Executive Branch, who would report directly to the President and who would serve as the lead on all cyber matters coordinating with the intelligence agencies as well as civilian agencies. 
• Require the Commerce Secretary to “develop or coordinate and integrate a national licensing, certification, and periodic recertification program for cybersecurity professionals.”
• Beginning 3 years after the date of enactment of the Act, make it “unlawful for any individual to engage in business in the United States, or to be employed in the United States, as a provider of cybersecurity services to any Federal agency or an information system or network designated by the President, or the President’s designee, as a critical infrastructure information system or network, who is not licensed and certified under the program.”

The bill would also allow the President to “declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic to and from any compromised Federal government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network.”

For govtrack.us tracking information, see here.

To read Senator Rockefeller’s press release, see here.  

Other news coverage at cnet, engadget, and Mother Jones.