On January 12 and 13, in speeches at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), President Barack Obama announced several initiatives to enhance online privacy and cybersecurity. These include (a) several new legislative proposals and (b) new public-private collaborations with the financial, energy and education sectors. Together, these initiatives form a plan that the president is expected to announce in his State of the Union Address. This plan builds upon the president’s February 12, 2013, cybersecurity executive order, while acknowledging the limits on the executive branch’s ability to address the issue without congressional action.

The president’s proposals replicate many of the features of his 2011 cybersecurity legislative initiative,2 including additional public-private information sharing authorities, revisions to criminal laws related to computer crimes and a federal data breach notification law. Reports indicate that more recommendations from that proposal, such as additional funding to enhance the cybersecurity workforce, may be announced later this week.