Dems join criticism of U.S. cybersecurity

Congressional Democrats have joined the chorus of criticism over the United States' perceived lapses in cybersecurity.

The ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Homeland Security said in a statement Tuesday that the Republican administration was unacceptably slow in appointing a high-level official to oversee computer-security matters.

"I, for one, hope Mr. (Secretary of Homeland Security Michael) Chertoff doesn't wait until a cyber attack causes billions of dollars in damages or results in lost lives before he decides to appoint an assistant secretary to take charge of our nation's cyber crisis," Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., declared.

Thompson's broadside came on the heels of Tuesday's report from the Cyber Security Industry Alliance, which chastised the administration's overall cybersecurity efforts and gave Chertoff's agency a modest "C" grade.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International