Heads up: Imported Devices Infected with Malware

Department of Homeland security officials are warning of weaknesses in the technology supply chain that result in the importation of devices that are already infected with malware, spyware, backdoors and other malicious code that leave the units vulnerable to exploitation.

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Dr. Strangelove meets Olympia Snowe

This Republican-In-Name-Only keeps turning up in all the wrong places. I cannot tell you how much she disgusts me.

"The cybersecurity threat is real," said Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy and Technology, which obtained the draft of S. 773, "but such a drastic federal intervention in private communications technology and networks could harm both security and privacy."

Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Mother Jones the bill was "contrary to what the Constitution promises us." According to Granick, granting the Commerce Department oversight of "critical" networks such as banking systems would grant the government access to potentially incriminating information without cause or warrant, a violation of the Constitution's prohibition against unlawful search and seizure.

Like the health care bill, there are several versions of S. 773; what people have seen is vaguely written. The bill does not clearly define what a cyberemergency or critical network is. Nor does it explicitly define the powers of the president in such an emergency or what he is prevented from doing. That is left up to the administration in power.

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