III 109th CONGRESS 2d Session S. CON. RES. 115 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 14, 2006 Mr. Burns (for himself and Ms. Cantwell) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to raising awareness and enhancing the state of computer security in the United States, and supporting the goals and ideals of National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

Whereas over 205,000,000 Americans use the Internet in the United States, including over 84,000,000 home-users through broadband connections, to communicate with family and friends, manage their finances, pay their bills, improve their education, shop at home, and read about current events; Whereas the approximately 26,000,000 small businesses in the United States, who represent 99.7 percent of all United States employers and employ 50 percent of the private work force, increasingly rely on the Internet to manage their businesses, expand their customer reach, and enhance their connection with their supply chain; Whereas, according to the Department of Education, nearly 100 percent of public schools in the United States have Internet access, with approximately 93 percent of instructional classrooms connected to the Internet; Whereas having access to the Internet in the classroom enhances the education of our children by providing access to educational online content and encouraging responsible self-initiative to discover research resources; Whereas, according to the Pew Institute, almost 9 in 10 teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17, or 87 percent of all youth (approximately 21,000,000 people) use the Internet, and 78 percent (or about 16,000,000 students) say they use the Internet at school; Whereas teen use of the Internet at school has grown 45 percent since 2000, and educating children of all ages about safe, secure, and ethical practices will not only protect their computer systems, but will also protect the physical safety of our children, and help them become good cyber citizens; Whereas the growth and popularity of social networking websites have attracted millions of teenagers, providing them with a range of valuable services; Whereas teens should be taught how to avoid potential threats like cyber bullies, online predators, and identity thieves that they may encounter while using cyber services; Whereas the critical infrastructure of our Nation relies on the secure and reliable operation of information networks to support our Nation's financial services, energy, telecommunications, transportation, health care, and emergency response systems; Whereas cyber security is a critical part of the overall homeland security of our Nation, in particular the control systems that control and monitor our drinking water, dams, and other water management systems, our electricity grids, oil and gas supplies, and pipeline distribution networks, our transportation systems, and other critical manufacturing processes; Whereas terrorists and others with malicious motives have demonstrated an interest in utilizing cyber means to attack our Nation; Whereas the mission of the Department of Homeland Security includes securing the homeland against cyber terrorism and other attacks; Whereas Internet users and our information infrastructure face an increasing threat of malicious attacks through viruses, worms, Trojans, and unwanted programs such as spyware, adware, hacking tools, and password stealers, that are frequent and fast in propagation, are costly to repair, and disable entire computer systems; Whereas, according to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, since February 2005, over 90,000,000 records containing personally-identifiable information have been breached, and the overall increase in serious data breaches in both the private and public sectors are threatening the security and well-being of the citizens of the United States; Whereas consumers face significant financial and personal privacy losses due to identity theft and fraud, as reported in over 686,000 consumer complaints in 2005 received by the Consumer Sentinel database operated by the Federal Trade Commission; Whereas Internet-related complaints in 2005 accounted for 46 percent of all reported fraud complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission; Whereas the total amount of monetary losses for such Internet-related complaints exceeded $680,000,000, with a median loss of $350 per complaint; Whereas the youth of our Nation face increasing threats online such as inappropriate content or child predators; Whereas, according to the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children, 34 percent of teens are exposed to unwanted sexually explicit material on the Internet, and 1 in 7 children report having been approached by an online child predator; Whereas national organizations, policymakers, government agencies, private sector companies, nonprofit institutions, schools, academic organizations, consumers, and the media recognize the need to increase awareness of computer security and enhance the level of computer and national security in the United States; Whereas the mission of National Cyber Security Alliance is to increase awareness of cyber security practices and technologies to home-users, students, teachers, and small businesses through educational activities, online resources and checklists, and public service announcements; and Whereas the National Cyber Security Alliance has designated October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which will provide an opportunity to educate the people of the United States about computer security: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)supports the goals and ideals of National Cyber Security Awareness Month; and (2)will work with Federal agencies, national organizations, businesses, and educational institutions to encourage the development and implementation of existing and future computer security voluntary consensus standards, practices, and technologies in order to enhance the state of computer security in the United States.