Bipartisan legislation to fortify U.S. cybersecurity has been approved by the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies, and the measure – the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2013 – will heat to the full Homeland Security Committee for consideration.
According to Bank Info Security, backers of the bill (HR 3696) say that it would fortify the cybersecurity of the U.S.’s 16 critical infrastructure sectors and the federal government by codifying, strengthening and providing oversight of the mission of the Department of Homeland Security.
Sponsors say that the legislation, if enacted, would bolster public-private partnerships on cybersecurity, establishing an equal partnership between industry and DHS, as well as codifying and strengthening the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, a public-private partnership framework that has been supported by the industry since 2003, according to the article.
The bill would also amend the SAFETY Act to establish a threshold for qualifying cyber-incidents, so private enterprises can voluntarily submit cybersecurity procedures to the SAFETY Act office to gain additional liability protections in the event of a cyber-incident.
The bill would also prohibit DHS from obtaining new cybersecurity regulatory authority, which reflects the Republican resolve that the government will not adopt cybersecurity regulations to impose on the private sector, the article says.