Lawmakers reintroduce cyberthreat information-sharing bill

February 14, 2013

Two U.S. lawmakers have reintroduced a controversial cyberthreat information-sharing bill over the objections of some privacy advocates and digital rights groups. As promised, Representatives Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, and C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, a Maryland Democrat, have reintroduced the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a bill that would allow private companies to share a wide range of cyberthreat information with U.S. government agencies. New legislation is needed to protect the U.S. from cyberattacks coming from Iran and other countries, said Rogers, chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee. Cyberattacks have “exploded into what is an epidemic,” he said during a briefing on the bill. “We are in a cyberwar—most Americans don’t know it, most folks in the world probably don’t know it—and at this point, we’re losing.” The bill can help U.S. agencies and businesses address their toughest cybersecurity problems, Rogers said. “It’s not a surveillance program, it’s in real time, at the speed of light, exchanging zeros and ones when it comes to malicious software to catch it and stop it,” he said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028136/lawmakers-reintroduce-cyberthreat-informationsharing-bill.html