President Obama’s Take On Cyber Security

Technology executives praised the president’s cyber-security strategy. But they liked Bush’s recipe too: what has Obama cooked up?

Protecting civil liberties

Perhaps the biggest difference between the Bush plan and Obama’s new cyber-security initiative is the issue of privacy. IBM’s Pearson stated; “This administration has made a commitment to protect civil liberties.”

Among the dozens of statements flooding e-mail boxes after Obama’s speech, even the Centre for Democracy & Technology, a fierce watchdog group, praised Obama’s speech. CDT President and CEO Leslie Harris:

“It’s clear that the White House review team was committed to building privacy into these cyber-security policy recommendations from the beginning of the process. Further, we are greatly encouraged by the administration’s strong commitment to develop its cyber-security privacy policies in a collaborative manner with those in the private sector.”