Governor Brown Signs Executive Order to Bolster Cybersecurity URL: http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=19082 PDF: http://gov.ca.gov/docs/B-34-15.pdf
COMMENT: Once again, California leads the nation in being the first US State to enact "cutting-edge" innovation or legislation designed to support innovation. In this case, California Governor Jerry Brown has chosen (presumably with proper legal consultation) to support via California Executive Order on August 31st, 2015 the ability of the State government, by way of the California Office of Emergency Services, to defend the State infrastructure against cybersecurity threats inside and outside the United States. This is huge.
This Executive Order enables the immediate creation of the California Cybersecurity Integration Center (Cal-CSIC), which is to be overseen by the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES). Central to this is the immediate creation of a multi-agency Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT). The EO also details the standards and governing entities that will be interacting on the Federal and State levels, and is to include other public and private sector parties as well. The general public is encouraged to learn more about this development (abovementioned links).
As most people are aware, California is ground zero and home to technological innovation by way of Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is imperitive that this critical resource supported by human capital is protected to the highest degree possible against cybersecurity issues. As California GSP or Gross State Product is currently at US$2.7 trillion (2014), ranking the Golden State as the world's 8th largest economy by itself (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_California), the wealth that is generated by way of this human capital and critical infrastructure must be protected as any sane government would rationally insist.
