The House Committee on Homeland Security’s unanimous passage of the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement (NCPA) Act, H.R. 1731, (Defense Daily, April 14) gained the support of Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
“Today’s important progress from the House Homeland Security Committee supports our ongoing efforts to strengthen our nation’s cyber defenses and moves Congress another step closer to passing an information sharing bill,” Carper said in a statement late Tuesday after the committee approved the bill earlier that day.
Carper said that the NCPA Act is similar to a bill he introduced in February (Defense Daily, Feb. 11), providing companies with liability protection to share cyber threat information, maintaining privacy protections, and ensuring the Department of Homeland Security has a central role in the information sharing process.
“While this bill is not perfect, I commend my colleagues on the House Homeland Security Committee for their action, transparency, and thoughtful approach to crafting this bill. I look forward to continuing this bipartisan and bicameral effort and hope that we can deliver an effective and robust information sharing bill to the President’s desk soon,” Carper added
The bill’s authors, Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), chairman of the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure protection and Security Technologies subcommittees were both glad to see the legislation moving forward.
“This cybersecurity bill, now headed for the House Floor, is the result of extensive bipartisan coordination in Congress and months of regular meetings and consultation with industry and privacy advocates. This bill is supported by Republicans and Democrats alike because it protects Americans’ private information and encourages voluntary information-sharing about cyber threats to safeguard America’s digital networks. I thank the Members of the Committee for reporting out a bipartisan bill that helps protect America’s digital landscape,” McCaul said.
“I’m grateful that this legislation was unanimously passed by the Homeland Security Committee. Securing Americans’ privacy and the integrity of their personal information is precisely why Congress must act. The National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement (NCPA) Act will enhance the capabilities and relationships that the private sector has worked so hard to develop, while establishing procedures to safeguard personal privacy,” Ratcliffe said.
“If the private sector does not have access to timely cyber threat indicators – the tools, tactics, and techniques of other attempted intrusions – we are putting our homeland in grave danger. The time is now for legislation like the NCPA Act that protects personal information from cyber intrusions, prevents widespread disruption to vital sectors of our economy, and safeguards our homeland from ongoing cyber threats,” Ratcliffe added.
Greg Garcia, Executive Director of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council, expressed general support for cyber information sharing at a Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday.
“If Congress were to pass legislation facilitating information sharing, DHS could receive a new influx of cyber threat information from the private sector. A lot of these liabilities go away, and incentives for more information sharing,” Garcia told the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee.
“This in turn would intensify the already pressing need for DHS to be able to process and act on that intelligence. And that’s going to require more personnel, who are well trained in cyber security and in the critical infrastructure sectors that they serve. And it requires robust, well-managed programs to develop analytical and best practices guidance with the community, particularly at the unclassified level,” Garcia added.