From: Politico/Opinion

By REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN

There used to be a time when little-known hacker groups were merely  interested in going after soft targets online. Over time, their attacks have  grown in scope and sophistication to include nearly every industry and asset  that makes America work. According to the Government Accounting Office, over a  five-year span, cyber attacks grew by 650 percent and cost our economy almost  $400 billion each year.

Last month, the North Korean government was suspected of unleashing a malware  attack that literally paralyzed 32,000 computers, shut down TV stations, and  disrupted several major banks in South Korea. As you read these words, China’s  red hacker brigade is attacking our citizens, businesses, and government  institutions at an alarming rate while we sit on our hands contemplating how to  respond.

Each day that passes more of our citizens’ privacy gets  stripped, business plans are further dismantled, and government sites get  hacked. Today’s cyber criminals, and the states that sponsor them, are  developing new ways to hit us even harder. They want to tap deeper into our  military applications, trade secrets, start-up technologies, communication  systems, personal information, and a whole range of data and property that could  easily be used to undermine our personal safety and competitiveness in global  markets.

Many would even consider these routine cyber attacks as acts of war if they  occurred in a more conventional context. But the attacks are hidden behind  firewalls and in between data servers that go unnoticed and unrecognized by a  vast majority of the American public. The intangible method of these attacks  belies the threat they pose to our country’s security.

That’s why I’m proposing a conservative framework – the Strengthening and  Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information and Technology  Act of 2013 (SECURE IT Act) – to provide our government, business community, and  citizens with the tools, protocols, and resources needed to protect themselves  from those who wish us harm.

The five major components that make up the Secure IT Act are: 1) allow the  government and the private sector to address cyber threat information in a more  transparent fashion; 2) reform how our government manages its own information  systems; 3) create new deterrents for cyber criminals; 4) prioritize research  and development for cybersecurity initiatives; and 5) streamline consumers’ ability to be notified when they are at risk of identity theft and financial  harm.

The framework of Secure IT is incentive-based, rather than regulatory. Rapid  changes in technology guarantee the failure of static, prescriptive approaches.  Just because the fingerprints of cyber criminals aren’t left behind after an  attack doesn’t mean we should handcuff our greatest job-creators and innovators  here in the US. The solutions that typically characterize Washington policy  making – more spending, difficult rules, and extra bureaucrats – will not be  effective here.

Furthermore, we can’t sit idly by thinking about how best to regulate U.S.  companies that are victims of sophisticated cyber attacks while the bad guys get  left off the hook. Let’s recognize the threats that exist, incentivize  opportunities for flexible responses, prioritize our efforts accordingly, and  give consumers a fighting chance when their personal information is sacrificed.  Washington’s typical red-tape solutions won’t just fail – they will make the  problems worse.

My approach is a sharp contrast to what President Obama has proposed through  his back door, regulatory Executive Order. Instead of playing politics and  pushing top-down solutions, I’m focused on consensus public policy that puts  American businesses in the driver’s seat and holds the government more  accountable. This plan is dynamic and forward-looking. It doesn’t create new  government programs and it won’t cost any taxpayer money. It’s an idea whose  time has come.

Obama’s regulatory maze will cede our private information, economy, and  security away to those who wish us harm. At the same time, it’s irresponsible  for our government to leave itself and its citizens vulnerable to attackers  who’ve shown absolutely no respect for privacy, the rule of law, or our national  sovereignty.

Pretending this problem can be subtly removed to our desktop recycling bin is  just as much a losing hand as Obama’s regulatory proposition. That’s why we need  to find conservative solutions – like the Secure IT Act – to tackle our  cybersecurity challenges.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn represents Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.  She serves as Vice Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee and also holds a  seat on the Budget Committee.