Resolution declares computer security a top priority

Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., has introduced a measure that declares cyberterrorism an emerging threat to U.S. national security and calls on federal policymakers to develop a national strategy aimed at ensuring the government and industry work together to address the issue.

The non-binding resolution also calls for revisions to the current legal framework for prosecuting computer hackers and cyberterrorists and creation of an interagency study on cyberterrorism by the Defense and Commerce Departments, FBI, CIA and National Security Agency.

"Our nation today is more dependent on the Internet than it was yesterday but not nearly as much as it will be tomorrow," Saxton said in a statement released Thursday. "There's little doubt a secure Internet has become a matter of national security."

Among the resolution's co-sponsors are House Republican Conference Chairman J.C. Watts, R-Okla., the head of the newly created House GOP Cyber-Security Team, and Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., the top Democrat on the "emerging threats" panel created by House Armed Services Committee in February. Saxton chairs that panel.

"Congress should do everything in its power to protect Americans from cyberterrorism, both foreign and domestic," Watts said in a statement.