Senators Force Weaker Safeguards Against Cyberattacks

Senators Force Weaker Safeguards Against Cyberattacks Despite warnings of a potentially crippling cyberattack, a group of lawmakers led by Senator John McCain has successfully weakened bipartisan legislation that the Obama administration said was crucial to protecting computer systems responsible for operating the nation’s critical infrastructure. Strong opposition from Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, and others on behalf of the business community forced Democratic and Republican supporters of the legislation to drop provisions that would have given the federal government the power to enforce minimum standards on systems that run power plants, air traffic control systems, dams and similar facilities. The Senate will debate the measure next week, even though the changes have raised new questions about its effectiveness. “The key to successfully fighting this threat is not adding more bureaucrats or forcing industries to comply with government red tape,” Mr. McCain said Friday in a statement that announced that he and seven other Republican senators had introduced their own bill that calls for more information sharing among companies. “Instead, we must leverage the ingenuity and innovation of the private sector in partnership with the most effective elements of the federal government to address this emerging threat.”