Call for More Cyber Expertise

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., on Friday outlined five basic principles he hopes will be included in cybersecurity legislation he expects to introduce later this year with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. One of those principles involves addressing challenges in hiring, retaining and training cybersecurity personnel in the federal government. For example, legislation should help develop a cybersecurity career path in the federal government and lay out new training programs to help retain cyber experts, he said.

"Agencies are competing not only with each other to hire these individuals, but also with the private sector," Lieberman said in a speech before the Chamber of Commerce Cybersecurity Task Force. "We must give federal agencies the necessary hiring and pay flexibilities to allow them to compete.

Lieberman also stressed the importance of a Senate-confirmed cybersecurity coordinator, sufficient authority and personnel for the Homeland Security Department to monitor federal civilian networks, a mandatory risk-based approach by DHS to secure the nation's critical infrastructure and new government acquisition policies and practices to tighten the security of government systems.