Lieberman blasts Bush cybersecurity plan

Lieberman letter to Ridge

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) charged the Bush administration with "lassitude and lack of leadership" in securing the nation's critical computer systems infrastructure.

In a March 19 letter, Lieberman, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and a frequent critic of the White House's homeland security efforts, characterized the administration's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace as little more than vague generalities, without timeframes, deadlines or performance benchmarks. The strategy was originally announced February 2003.

"It appears that the administration has been running in place, leaving us little closer to having meaningful protections for the vital computer dependent systems on which the country depends each day," Lieberman wrote in the March 19 letter to Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge.

Some of the lack of progress, Lieberman argues, stems from a delay in finding someone to head DHS' National Cyber Security Division, a position now filled by Amit Yoran.

The 22-page letter criticized DHS officials' performance and asked 57 questions covering areas such as what DHS is doing about reducing software vulnerabilities, and plans for continuity and contingency planning.