Secretary Panetta's Stark Warnings About Cyber Threats

In a statement about Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's speech on cybersecurity, Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), co-founder of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus and co-chair of the bipartisan CSIS Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, emphasized that leaders must continue to highlight the seriousness of these threats and the necessary solutions to decrease the likelihood of a major attack.

"The top obligation of our federal government is the safety of the American people, and Secretary Panetta clearly expressed the vast and increasing extent of cyber threats to our citizens.

Unfortunately, some opponents of cybersecurity improvements have succeeded in framing this issue in terms of adding unnecessary regulations to business, when the appropriate question for policymakers to ask is: what legal safeguards are required for our most critical infrastructure to ensure we don't experience the types of attacks described by the Secretary?

"While we all understand that Congress has many pressing issues that must be dealt with before the new year, that is no excuse for failing to address what should be among our highest national security priorities.

I commend Secretary Panetta and the Obama Administration for their persistence in communicating the security crisis we face and their willingness to take every possible step to reduce our most significant vulnerabilities. However, their success will ultimately depend on the ability of Congress to come together and act on behalf of the safety and security of our citizens."