http://beta.news.com.com/Tax+breaks+for+cybersecurity+firms/2100-7348_3-5884149.html
By Anne Broache
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 27, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Congress may offer tax breaks to companies that adopt
good cybersecurity standards, the chairman of a House of
Representatives subcommittee said Tuesday.
But in legislating cybersecurity guidelines, lawmakers should avoid
heavy-handed regulations, Rep. Dan Lungren, a California Republican,
said in a lunch speech here.
"My fear is if we do that, we'll stifle innovation," he said. "How can
we predict what the best way will be (to manage cybersecurity) in most
of these instances?"
Lungren said the U.S. House of Representatives cybersecurity
subcommittee, which he chairs, is working on crafting an "overall view
of ways we can work with the private sector" to develop cybersecurity
tools, including the possibility of creating an incentive-based
system.
Lawmakers also plan to address liability concerns, he said, as they
want to allow companies to take some risks in coming up with new
cybersecurity tools without having to worry about being sued if they
fall short.
Andy Purdy, acting director of the Department of Homeland Security's
National Cybersecurity Division, said in a speech that his agency is
also working closely with the private sector to equip itself for
responding to cyberattacks.
Purdy said he expects Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to
announce "in the near future" the appointment of an assistant
secretary for cybersecurity and telecommunications--a position
approved by Congress during the spring. That official would be in
charge of coordinating cybersecurity efforts among different agencies
and research groups, Purdy said.
The agency, which has already flunked a cybersecurity preparedness
test, is also gearing up for a November exercise, dubbed Cyberstorm,
intended to give the government a chance to role-play its way through
a mock cyberattack.
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