The

The The According to CIA director John Brennan, the war on terror is now being waged online.

In a recent speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, Brennan warned about the threat of cyberterrorism and said the U.S. government needs to focus on protecting the Internet.

Of course, the safety of our personal data online is of the utmost importance, and recent high-profile hacks reinforce this need.

Yet the U.S. government is using the threat to push through

sweeping legislation that will erode privacy while exempting companies from existing privacy

laws. SISPA, or the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, is back as SISA. And Obama just

issued an executive order that grants him the authority

to sanction people or groups engaged in civil society online.

With the renewal of the Patriot Act on the horizon,

the conversation about mass surveillance and privacy rights couldn't be more vital.

So to discuss all things spying and why it matters is Sam Sacks,

co-founder of the news co-op, the District Sentinel.

Sam Sacks, co-founder of the District Sentinel,

thank you so much for joining me today.

First, let's talk about the recent executive order that Obama passed

that targets entities located partially or wholly outside the U.S., quote, directly or indirectly

responsible for cyber activities, harming or otherwise significantly compromising entities in a

critical infrastructure sector. What did I just say? What is this all about?

Yeah, that's a good question, right? This is another, this is the latest attempt by the White House

to do something about quote unquote cyber threats. That's been kind of the buzzword for a few

months now. This executive order, though, is overly broad,

...