This Week in Tech: Lawmakers consider update to hacking laws

{mosads}A range of high-profile data breaches that have affected commercial giants such as Sony and government agencies like the CIA have helped raise the issue significantly. 

The administration has also sought to further cooperation with international law enforcement to crack down on organized cybercriminals from abroad that target U.S. interests.

Wednesday’s hearing will focus on the administration’s cybersecurity proposals from earlier this year, which include new legal powers for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute cybercrime.

Lawmakers will also discuss several proposals already pending in Congress, including Leahy’s Personal Data Privacy and Security Act.

On Tuesday, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright will hold a closed briefing for the Senate Armed Services Committee on cyber-issues.

The Pentagon recently released its cyberstrategy declaring the Internet a war domain but declined to specify what type of cyber-attack would constitute an act of war, much to the consternation of members of the panel. Expect the briefing to shed some light on that topic.

Also on Wednesday morning, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on the impact of the proposed LightSquared Network on federal science activities.

The controversial broadband network has drawn criticism due to potential interference with the Global Positioning System, relied upon by everyone from the military to consumer navigation devices.

LightSquared argues GPS devicemakers have long used spectrum outside the designated airwaves. Panel witnesses include representatives from the NOAA, NASA, the Department of Transportation and the U.S. Geological Survey.

CompTIA will hold a cybersecurity summit at the Washington Hilton on Thursday morning featuring Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), National Institute of Standards and Technology computer scientist Jeff Voas and Brookings Institution Center for Technology Innovation research director Allan Friedman.