On Tuesday, October 27, the US Senate voted to pass the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act.
This bill allows companies to share evidence of cyber-attacks to the US government even if it violates a person’s privacy. Supporters say this act will make it easier for the government to monitor threats and responses across companies. Others like Apple and other top tech companies argued that this bill could give government more liberty to spy on US citizens.
US Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue said this legislation is a “positive step toward enhancing our nation’s cybersecurity.”
21 Senators voted against the act. Among them was Minnesota Democrat Al Franken who believes there is a need for “effective legislation that balances security and privacy” and “the CISA does not do that.”
Just last year, the CISA was first introduced and passed by the House but it did not go through the Senate. High profile cyberattacks on companies like Sony Pictures, United Airlines, and Ashley Madison may have prompted the Senate to approve it this time around.
The issue at hand is that personal identifiers such as text messages and e-mails may slip through when sending information to law enforcement and intelligence agencies, even though companies are supposed to delete that information.
US Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that the bill does raise “privacy and civil liberty concerns.”
CISA is now going to a Congressional Conference whose members must match the passed Senate and House bills before sending it to President Obama.
Article via CNET Security News , October 27, 2015
Photo: Washington DC – Capitol Hill: United States Capitol via Wally Gobetz [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]