A cyber security law has been passed by the US senate. This will give the government the power to blind certain parts of the Internet in the event of a cyber attack. A strong opposition to the bill has been raised by Senator Joe Lieberman. Saying that this gives the government a switch to kill the Internet, Lieberman said that the Internet was a wide and open space and not the property of anyone.

In reality, the law actually stifles the president’s powers over the Internet. 1934’s communications act has stipulated the power of the president to shut down communication facilities in time of emergency. The bill will give the president the powers to regulate the Internet in times of emergency. As part of this bill, the US government will work with cyber security companies to create security policies and technologies to safeguard critical communications infrastructure.

The president can choose to shut down the Internet up to one hundred and twenty days, post which it requires approval. The most important thing is that the law will give the US Department of Homeland Security a free hand to do the needful in emergency times. Especially when the networks have been attacked by cyber-criminals or cyber-terrorists.

The main impediment for the homeland department was that most networks are not government owned. Rather, they are privately owned and managed. Private networks are soft targets for enemies of the state to sneak into the networks of the country.

Critics still feel that the ‘kill switch’ powers vested to the President of America will do little for the security, rather it will aggravate security concerns. Some industry analysts feel that intervention from the government will not do any good for security product technology. This is because security products follow their own rules when making products.Such a policy is still under debate. Only time will tell if such a bill is widely accepted, and if it will ever come into force.