On April 22 and 23, 2015, the House of Representatives passed, with strong bipartisan support, two bills on cybersecurity, the “Protecting Cyber Networks Act” (H.R. 1560) and the “National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015” (H.R. 1731).
H.R. 1560 was passed by the House on April 22, 2015, with 307-116 votes. According to the House’s record, the bill was drafted considering the numerous cyberattacks to which the American businesses and agencies undergo every day. The bill “authorizes companies to monitor their own networks and the networks of other consenting private parties for cybersecurity threats. It also authorizes companies to use and share defensive measures–techniques that prevent or mitigate cybersecurity threats–on their own networks and on the networks of other consenting private parties. And most importantly, notwithstanding any other federal or state law, the bill authorizes and provides liability protection for the sharing and receipt of cyber threat indicators and defensive measures. The bill encourages sharing of cyber threat indicators and defensive measures along three axes: between private companies; from private companies to the federal government; and from the federal government to private companies.” According to the Intelligence Committee, the bill would overall help protect Americans’ privacy.
H.R. 1731 was passed by the House on April 23, 2015, with 355-63 votes. According to the House’s record, the bill should amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 “to enhance multi-directional sharing of information related to cybersecurity risks, while strengthening privacy and civil liberties protections, in order to help secure the nation’s cyber networks and critical infrastructure against attacks”. The bill designates the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communication Integration Center as the lead federal civilian interface for cybersecurity threat information sharing. The agency should facilitate multi-directional information sharing between the Federal Government and the private sector. H.R. 1731 would also establish a private cause of action against a federal agency that intentionally or willfully violates restrictions on the use and protection of voluntarily shared indicators or defensive measures.
More information on H.R. 1560 available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1560/all-info
More information on H.R. 1731 available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1731/all-info
More information is available at http://www.technethics.com…, and https://www.huntonprivacyblog.com…
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