Statement from Internet Innovation Alliance on Obama’s 60-day Cybersecurity Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 29, 2009 - The Internet Innovation Alliance, a broad-based coalition supporting progress with a National Broadband Strategy, today released the following statement in support of President Obama’s 60-day cybersecurity report:

“We commend President Obama for recognizing cybersecurity as an essential foundation for broadband Internet to realize its full economic, cultural and social potential. A safe, secure Internet with the public’s trust is critical to enabling the innovations that can improve our lives and to spurring broadband adoption among citizens.

“More than 75 percent of Americans feel that the Internet is too dangerous and believe naive users can easily be taken advantage of, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Americans conducted by TRUSTe. Making consumers comfortable with capabilities that require safe and secure connections such as online banking and medical record storage-and-retrieval, as well as popular services like photo sharing and online gaming, is key to achieving universal availability and adoption of high speed Internet.

“Serious cyber-crime threats against consumers like phishing, hacking and identity theft persist, while national security challenges to government systems and critical infrastructure threaten our country every day. Overcoming these challenges to encourage widespread broadband Internet adoption requires a concerted effort with the government and private sector working closely together. The cybersecurity report and proposed action plan represent an essential first step toward a most critical goal.”