US government announces new Internet security plan

The U.S. Commerce Department announced a plan to combat hacking and fraud on the Internet and urged companies to voluntarily adopt Internet security standards, but stopped short of calling for any specific regulation.

The Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force report also called for strengthening international cooperation on Internet-best-practices and educating the public about cyber risks. The task force said it believes the government's role in Internet security should be "proactively promoting industry-led efforts and widely accepted standards."

Jim Dempsey, vice president of public policy for the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the report "is trying to draw the dividing line" by deciding which parts of the Internet don't merit as much regulation.

Click here to find out more!Internet threats doubled during 2009 and 2010, according to the Department of Commerce, with an estimated 55,000 new viruses surfacing daily in 2010. The report comes after a wave of high-profile cyber attacks, including RSA Security's SecurID, Sony Corp. and Google Inc., among others.

The report focuses on companies that do business on the Internet, ranging from social networking, online-only businesses like Facebook to small, bricks-and-mortar companies who provide some online services.

This report is not meant to address companies that are critical to infrastructure, like energy companies. The Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security are responsible for regulating national security systems and critical infrastructures. This report, instead, addresses commerce.

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