White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has been quoted by the PTI as having said: “Cyber threats pose one of the greatest national security dangers that the United States faces, ranging from vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure to identity theft from credit card information.”

He said the Obama administration had significantly enhanced government’s capabilities by forging relationships with private sector to prevent and mitigate the cyber incidents while increasing efforts to prosecute cyber criminals.

Highlighting the President’s May 2011 move of sending a detailed package of legislation, including specific data-breach legislation, to Capitol Hill on cyber-security, Earnest said the decision helped further protect the nation’s privacy and security.

“Since that time, the administration has worked closely with Congress to try to shape important bipartisan cyber security legislation,” he said.

“But after considerable review and debate, Congress hasn’t acted as swiftly as we would like on some consensus provisions. We would like them to take these important steps, even as they continue to work through the more complex legal policy challenges,” he said.

Noting that there are some consensus provisions that have bipartisan support, he said Congress had failed to act on them.

The administration wants Congress to take the kinds of steps that would protect the American people and their better privacy.

“Because the cyber-security threats we face are both immediate and evolving, we encourage Congress to move forward on cyber-security legislation that protects our nation,” he said.(Special Reporter/HC)