Fueling hope that Congress will move forward on cyber security legislation, the two senators that lead the Intelligence Committee on Wednesday said they have been circulating a draft cyber security information sharing bill.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the committee chairman, and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), the vice chairman, issued a joint statement saying their draft legislation is currently being reviewed by “relevant parties in the executive branch, private industry and the privacy community for comment.” Once comments are received they hope to consider the final legislation.
The two senators said that in its current form the bill “allows companies to monitor their computer networks for cyber attacks, promotes sharing of cyber threat information and provides liability protection for companies who share that information.”
The Departments of Defense and Homeland Security have cyber threat information sharing programs in place with the private sector, which believes more can be done to facilitate and strengthen these bonds. Liability protections for companies willing to share cyber threat data is currently lacking.
Previous attempts by Congress as a whole to approve cyber legislation failed, leading the Obama Administration in 2013 to issue an Executive Order that resulted in the creation of a Cybersecurity Framework earlier this year to promote voluntary best practices and standards for critical infrastructure organizations to adopt to strengthen their cyber defense posture. Legislation promoting the sharing of cyber threat data and providing liability protections for businesses willing to share that data is seen as another step toward helping the private sector improve its cyber security measures.
Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the ranking member, applauded the work of Feinstein and Chambliss and urged the Senate to pass the bill.
An aide to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee told Defense Daily that passing cyber security legislation this year remains a top priority of Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the committee chairman, adding that Carper and his staff “are encouraged to see bipartisan work on cyber security.” The aide also said that Carper and ranking member Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) are also working together on a draft bill to enhance the country’s cyber security.