E3 Organizer Praises Obama's State of the Union Address
The Entertainment Software Association, the group that represents the interests of the United States video game industry on Capitol Hill and the organization that puts together E3 every year, has released a statement praising US President Barack Obama's recent State of the Union address. The ESA specifically commended Obama for calling out cybersecurity as an issue of utmost importance.
"We applaud President Obama's inclusion of cybersecurity as a national concern," ESA president Michael Gallagher said. "Illegal hacking and denial of service attacks threaten the U.S. economy."
"Millions of Americans enjoy video games and understand the emphasis and sense of urgency the president and Congress have placed on implementing strong and effective cybersecurity policies," he added." The U.S. video game industry employs more than 150,000 workers across the U.S. and engages billions of gamers around the globe. We stand ready and willing to work with the White House and congressional leaders to ensure that any legislation will address the harm caused by attacks."
While Obama did not specifically mention the Xbox Live and PlayStation Network Christmas Day DDoS attacks (did you really think he would?!), he did say he hopes Congress can work together to pass the legislation he put forth recently that offers new measures to stop such attacks.
"No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids," Obama said during the address this week. "We are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats, just as we have done to combat terrorism."
"And tonight, I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children's information--that should be a bi-partisan effort," he added. "If we don't act, we'll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable. If we do, we can continue to protect the technologies that have unleashed untold opportunities for people around the globe."
In the wake of the Christmas Day gaming network outages, authorities have launched an international investigation, which has led to at least one arrest. The group that claimed responsibility for the attacks, Lizard Squad, has itself since reportedly been hacked.
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