The Computer Security Act of 1987: in simple terms

Are you concerned about computer security? Are you concerned that personal and confidential information could be leaked to someone with the intent to use that information in a negative way?

What is? The Computer Security Act of 1987 was the first real attempt by the United States government to legislate information on federal government computer systems. The overall goal was to protect and defend any sensitive information on the systems and to provide security for that information.

Basically, what is private must remain private. The Computer Security Act of 1987 establishes a control on federal computer systems. And it paved the way for the future of limited public access to government information.

The National Bureau of Standards, which is now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), was tasked with creating a strategy to develop certain standards to protect any information. The Computer Security Act of 1987 required the National Bureau of Standards to create an absolute minimum of acceptable security practices.

Under the 1987 Computer Security Act, computer-related security plans needed to be created, and people using those systems had to receive proper training.

Why did the Computer Security Law of 1987 originate? At one point, the United States Congress was concerned about the vulnerability of computer databases. Could information be leaked? How possible were security breaches? Could there be a threat to national security if some information were leaked and fell into the wrong hands?

It was at that point that Congress decided to look into the matter and see how vulnerable government computers really were.

What does the Computer Security Act of 1987 do? The 1987 Information Security Law created an advisory council, made up of twelve members, who met a minimum of three times during the year. The board would give its report to Congress, the National Security Council and others.

Government law prevents the disclosure of confidential information, but also prohibits the withholding of any information that is requested due to the Freedom of Information Act. And, the Computer Security Act of 1987 does not allow any restrictions, limitations or regulations on the disclosure, collection, sale or use of information in the public domain or privately owned.

Results of the Computer Security Act of 1987 So far, there have been no reports of major information leaks or threats to national security. However, libraries have reported that various government agencies, such as NASA, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense, have not made as many documents public as they did before the 1987 Computer Security Act.

Since the 1987 Computer Security Law was passed, it has now been superseded by the 2002 Federal Information Security Management Law, which broadens the scope of computer and network security.