Editor’s Note: Katrina Timlin is a Research Assistant for the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

By Katrina Timlin – Special to CNN

Few would argue against the need to improve U.S. cybersecurity, but the current partisan divide on how to accomplish this goal threatens to stall much-needed legislation in this area. On February 14th, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, a bill that aims to improve US cyber defense, clarify responsible government oversight authorities, raise issue awareness, and promote information sharing between the private sector and the government. Citing the rapidity  with which this bill was brought to the floor and its “prescriptive regulations,” seven GOP senators are seeking to delay this bill and will propose their own cybersecurity legislation on February 21st. The legislative progress on cyber defense is now stalled, and further delays could prove damaging to U.S. economic and national security. FULL POST