Yup. Chris speaks true.
JWICS
SIPRNET
NIPRNET
etc.
I was trying to be humorous.
I guess it failed.
I did really mean that gov build their own private internet that isn't connected to the www for things that are mentioned above.
NIPR and SIPR are not airgapped. They are private virtual circuits, exactly like commercial WAN's. They are just better encrypted. The only difference are a handful of stub networks going to remote facilities. Some go over commercial commsats, some go over military commsats. They touch the internet at various DISA facilities around the world.
I won't speak of the network design of any TS networks.
The govt does have private networks, but the overwhelming majority of domestic traffic is done over leased lines from regular telecommunication companies.
Disclosure: I worked for DISA, who runs basically any and all DOD/intel/etc networks. I'm not going into any further detail of classified government networks than what I just posted. Everything I posted is already publically available and I will not post anything that is not.
Anyways. Re the bill. It's stupid. Just allow telcomms to be able to kill their connection to a particular customer, without losing common carrier status. Currently, the law says that big telcos must act as a common carrier and not discriminate on their traffic. This gives them immunity from prosecution for any illegal content crossing their network. That's why the RIAA can't sue AT&T for illegal MP3 downloads on their network, and the FBI can't arrest Verizon for a customer downloading child porn. If telcos were to shut off without a court order someone haX0ring a nuke plant, they could lose their common carrier status. Then they would be liable for any and all traffic on their network. So if the FBI told AT&T to turn off the connection for some script kiddie in Ohio who was haXoring Three Mile Island (or APS), and AT&T did so, the FBI could bring up charges against AT&T the next time someone haX0red another person over AT&T's network. Sound rediculous? Well, that's our legal system.
Places like YouTube, flickr, etc that employ moderation and whatnot are not common carriers as they discriminate what is allowed. They can and have been sued for copyright infringement and the like. Google is going through some interesting lawsuits at the moment on just that.
How do you fix this? Allow common carriers to shut off folks haX0ring without losing common carrier status. Which is allowed already, it just requires a court order. I prefer the current system, obviously. Allowing the President to shut down network connections without oversight or judicial involvement is a direct violation of the Constitution in addition to being a bad idea.
There are many, many ways to improve critical network security. This is not one. If implemented, it would threaten critical infrastructure and not protect it. The NSA has done the best job thus far by publishing their superb configuration guides. Toss them some money and tell them to write more guides. Publize them. Heavily. Heck, ask the manufacturers to include the guides with their product documentation. Most would be happy to do so.
And as always, much credit goes to the EFF for fighting bad ideas like this legislation. Do yourself a favor and give them a couple bucks.