Congressional Resolution Introduced in Support of National Cyber Security Awareness Month

The U.S. House of Representatives has introduced H. Res. 716 "expressing the sense of Congress with respect to raising awareness and enhancing the state of computer security in the United States, and supporting the goals and ideals of National Cyber Security Awareness Month." The resolution was presented by Rep. James R. Langevin (Dem-RI), chair of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology of the House Homeland Security Committee.

While introducing the resolution on the House floor, Rep. Langevin said:

Each year, the National Cyber Security Division, NCSD, of the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, joins with the National Cyber Security Alliance, NCSA, the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, MS-ISAC, and other partners to support National Cyber Security Awareness Month. The goal of National Cyber Security Awareness Month is to show everyday Internet users that by taking simple steps, they can safeguard themselves from the latest online threats and respond to potential cyber-crime incidents.

He also commented that cybersecurity issues have been largely ignored and misunderstood for too long. "The oversight that the Homeland Security Committee is undertaking will help change that," he observed, "but much work remains to be done."

National Cyber Security Awareness Month is organized by the National Cyber Security Alliance (www.StaySafeOnline.org) and is supported by the EDUCAUSE/Internet2 Computer and Network Security Task Force. For more information about how educational institutions can get involved, see the Resource Kit for NCSAM developed by the task force.