Ruppersberger, Rogers Cybersecurity Bill Clears Intelligence Committee

The growing threat of online attacks on businesses spurred the House Intelligence Committee to fast-track a "critical," new cybersecurity bill Thursday in order to stifle the influx of hacker attempts to steal intellectual property. 

The bill was introduced by (D-MD) and Rep. Mike Rogers, (R-MI), committee chairman, on Tuesday. 

There has been a 10 percent increase in cyber crime reported by businesses since 2009, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers 2011 Global Economic Crime Survey, reports Accounting Today. About 45 percent of the 158 businesses surveyed suffered online fraud in the last year, the article states. 

The bipartisan effort passed unanimously 17-1. 

POLITICO reports that the measure could get "floor time" as early as January. 

"The bill reported from committee today strengthens our ability to take advantage of the expertise of the Intelligence Community to safeguard American companies from ruthless cyber attackers while protecting privacy and civil liberties,” Ruppersberger, a Baltimore County Democrat, said in a release.

“We have added a narrow threshold for what kind of information can be shared between the government and private sector, as well as a critical Inspector General report requirement," he said.

Rogers said the bill gives businesses the "clear authority" to defend themselves against cyber attacks.

“Our bill does not require additional federal spending or the creation of a new government bureaucracy," Rogers said. "It does not impose additional federal regulation or unfunded mandates on the private sector.  To the contrary, the bill is a critical, bipartisan first step to empowering the private sector to do even more to protect its own networks. It will also unleash American private sector innovation and drive to help create a more robust cybersecurity marketplace.”   

According to a release, the bill would:

• Allow private sector entities to share information anonymously or restrict who they share with, including the government.
• The bill requires a review of the sharing and use of information by the federal government to ensure the protection of privacy and civil liberties. An annual unclassified report to Congress will provide recommendations for enhancing privacy and civil liberties.

Two amendments (see attached documents) were added to the bill Thursday. 

The first amendment:

• Prohibits the government from using cyber threat information unless at least one significant purpose is cyber security or national security.
• Prohibits the government from searching through any information it receives from the private sector for any purpose not authorized by the bill.
• Ensures that all cyber threat information shared by the private sector is purely voluntary and that the government may not condition the sharing of intelligence information with the private sector on receiving information back. 
• Prohibits the government from using the authorities in this bill to “task” the private sector to provide information.

The second amendment requires an annual report to Congress from the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. 

Cyber security spending is on track to reach $60 billion, according to The Register.