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Posted on Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 8 a.m.

Is Congressman Mike Rogers a Chicken Little or Paul Revere when it comes to cyber attack threats?

By Tom Watkins

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Republican Congressman Mike Rogers of Brighton is the author of the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.

File photo | AnnArbor.com

"The sky is falling, the sky is falling" cried Chicken Little. Today, that cry remains an idiom indicating a hysterical belief that disaster is imminent.

Yet, what if the crier is right and there is pending disaster that we do not take heed of?

This is exactly the dilemma that U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, faces in his attempt to get the country to pay attention and protect ourselves against a massive cyber attack. Rogers is warning us of the potential cyber attack that could cripple our economy, wiping out our entire financial system, power and electrical grids -- the computer networks that help run our entire country's infrastructure.

Simply imagine a sci-fi movie -- complete with enemies able to unleash a computer virus so powerful that it might shut our country down. Frightening enough for you?

Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a former FBI agent, believes in this level of devastation, currently being threatened by terrorist organizations and foreign governments. Clearly, he is in a position to know.

Rogers believes Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Al-Qaida are improving their capabilities to attack America's vital targets in cyberspace.

Is Rogers a 21st century "Chicken Little" when he proclaims: "We are headed for a catastrophic cyber attack in this country ... exponentially, governments like China and Russia and now Iran, North Korea and others have gotten into the business of cyber espionage, developing capabilities for cyber attacks."

FBI Director Robert Mueller testified before Congress that hacking could soon replace terrorism as the FBI’s primary concern. Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the military’s Cyber Command, characterized the losses caused by cyber theft as “the greatest transfer of wealth in history.”

Rogers is working in overdrive to pass his controversial bill, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (HR-3523) that would allow the U.S. government to share with American businesses, classified information related to expected computer system attacks. His early warning system would create shields to protect our nation's cyber security interests.

Yet freedom-loving Americans are struggling with the balance between protecting our homeland and government intrusion and snooping into our private lives. They have taken to cyberspace in an attempt to stop or significantly modify his bill.

Rogers is working with these groups to provide changes that, "at least allows them to sleep at night, because I can't sleep at night over these threats."

Rainey Reitman, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group established to defend our rights in this digital world says: "The language of this bill is dangerously vague, so that personal online activity -- from the mundane to the intimate -- could be implicated." She believes the bill would in essence "gut all existing privacy laws."

Rogers believes the Senate counterpart to his bill is "in a lot of trouble." Many mainstream business groups oppose the new regulatory authority it would give to the Department of Homeland Security and associated costs.

The cyber threats the congressman is alerting us to are all too real. How we balance our personal freedom and privacy with our national security is the tightrope we must navigate.

Let me assure you, though, Congressman Rogers is no "Chicken Little." Instead, he may indeed be America's 21st century "Paul Revere."

Tom Watkins is a former state school superintendent for Michigan who has over 30 years experience as a participant and observer of the policy and political process. He is a U.S./China business and educational consultant. He can be reached at: tdwatkins88@gmail.com.

Comments

Renee S.

Tue, May 1, 2012 : 2:46 p.m.

He is neither Chicken Little nor Paul Revere; he's Big Brother. CISPA allows the government to ask for any data about anyone without a warrant for investigation and prosecution of cybersecurity crime, protection of individuals, protection of children, and for national security reasons: http://intelligence.house.gov/sites/intelligence.house.gov/files/documents/042412UseAmendment.pdf What kind of data can the government ask for an receive without a warrant? Your text messages. Your e-mails. Your instant messages. Any communication you've every made online is up for grabs without a warrant, as long as they can claim that they need it for essentially any reason whatsoever: https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8444

Mike

Sun, Apr 29, 2012 : 3:25 p.m.

Mike Rogers forgets that he is a Republican. We need government out of our lives, not further into them. Better more secure hardware and infrastructure is preferable to giving the government more powers to spy.

Greg Hopkins

Fri, Apr 27, 2012 : 5:34 p.m.

Mr. Rogers has a penchant for seeing danger where there is none. Several of us sat in his office in Lansing on the eve of the war in Iraq, where he told us that one of Saddam's "weapons of mass destruction" was a rocket that could be fired low over the water so that it was undetectable by radar and that it had enough long-range capability to be a threat to our shores. Cyber warfare may be a threat, but I'll believe it when I hear if from a more credible source.

Basic Bob

Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 9:20 p.m.

Any comments from the Trusted Cyber Security Purchasing Alliance? All those Chicken Littles are lining up to buy their FUDware.

observer

Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 4:54 p.m.

Hey Mike, thanks for looking out for my pension......there is no difference between either party...both like to tax....thanks again, Mike.....

Ron Granger

Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 1:54 p.m.

This law should be called "Put the TSA in charge of the internet and American's privacy Act" This law is a huge invasion of our privacy, and another massive power grab by the Department of Homeland Security. It won't solve anything, but it will make some people even more rich.

Dog Guy

Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 1:06 p.m.

Russia and China will not cripple America's cyberspace as long as it serves as their chief conduit of scientific, industrial, technological, political, and economic espionage. The real imminent threat to cyberspace is the U. S. Congress, of which Rogers is a member. Congress is currently passing "laws" which give dictatorial powers to the Washington regime, including control of information.

Ron Granger

Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 1:52 p.m.

Sorry, but the cyber world is a lot larger than "Russia and China".

Brad

Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 12:18 p.m.

Just another Republican "getting government out of your lives". And there is *nothing* 21st century about the man.