February 1, 2013
Cybersecurity Back on the Agenda
Despite all of the attention on cybersecurity issues these days, the last Congress was unable to pass “The Cybersecurity Act of 2012,” despite two attempts. Efforts are now gearing up to try again, and those efforts may be aided by Senator Rockefeller’s recently released survey of the cybersecurity practices of Fortune 500 companies. As Broc noted back in September 2012, Senator Rockefeller sent letters to the CEOs of all Fortune 500 companies requesting information on how each company was addressing cybersecurity, and how they felt about federal legislative initiatives to address the issue.
The staff summary of the responses to Senator Rockefeller’s letter noted that approximately three hundred companies in the Fortune 500 responded, and that overall the companies’ responses demonstrated that the private sector is supportive of Congress’s interest in passing cybersecurity legislation. Not surprisingly, the companies that responded all stated that they have developed cybersecurity practices to protect their infrastructure from cyber attacks.
As this WilmerHale alert notes, President Obama is likely to issue an executive order during the first half of 2013 addressing the improvement of cybersecurity practices in critical infrastructure sectors while the Congressional cybersecurity initiatives gear up.
SEC Gets a New IG
This week the SEC announced that Carl W. Hoecker will serve as the agency’s Inspector General, taking over from Interim Inspector General Jon Rymer, who was holding down the SEC gig and his day job as the Inspector General of the FDIC. Mr. Hoecker comes to the SEC after having served as the first Inspector General of the Capitol Police since 2006. With over 30 years of law enforcement experience, it sounds like Mr. Hoecker is a seasoned veteran. Perhaps with this background he can restore the SEC Inspector General’s office to those halcyon days before SEC IG scandals made news in Rolling Stone, among many other media outlets.
Our February Eminders is Posted!
We have posted the February issue of our complimentary monthly email newsletter. Sign up today to receive it by simply inputting your email address!
– Dave Lynn