Cybersecurity Is on the Move Again

For those who have been following the roller coaster ride of whether comprehensive cybersecurity reform will be accomplished this legislative session, there have been some interesting developments that took place within the last 24 hours.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter yesterday informing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that cybersecurity legislation will be introduced after the December recess. This letter prompted a reply letter from Sen. McConnell advising Sen. Reid to introduce cybersecurity legislation that had bipartisan support.

Sen. McConnell highlighted the following areas that his caucus would support:

1. Information sharing between the federal government and businesses about “discovered threat signature information”,


2. Reform of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and


3. Updating criminal penalties and law enforcement tools.

Sen. McConnell then highlighted those areas where that do not have bipartisan support which include:

1. Designation and regulation of “covered critical infrastructure”,


2. Regulation of supply chain related to federal technology acquisition requirements,


3. A restructure of the Department of Homeland Security and


4. A national data breach notification requirement.

To use a sports metaphor, the ball is now in Sen. Reid’s court and it remains to be seen whether we see a condensed version of Sen. Reid’s cybersecurity legislation that contains those provisions outlined by Sen. McConnell or whether he tries to secure the requisite votes he needs from the other team to get legislation passed in the Senate.