Bloomberg BNA: House Set to Vote Soon on Cyberthreat Data Security Bill

Recently, the House Intelligence Committee approved legislation that would shield U.S. companies from the liability risks of sharing cyberthreat data.

The bill, the Protecting Cyber Networks Act, will provide liability protection for companies that share “cyber threat indicators” or “defensive measures” voluntarily with others. However, a gap in the legislation would leave the door open for claims to survive where a plaintiff can show that a company engaged in “willful misconduct.”

The measure was approved after the panel adopted some requested technical changes. The House floor may take this piece of legislation to a vote by the end of April.

This measure has been considered by some to be a companion bill to legislation previously circulated by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas).

Brian Finch, global security partner said, "a central difference between the two bills is that the House Intelligence Committee bill would provide liability protection for actions taken or not taken with shared information, while the McCaul version wouldn't. That's a critical component. So much information will be coming at companies that it could be difficult for them to separate the wheat from the chaff. A company could be passed a useful bit of information, but it could be a dot that is 'unconnected' until after an attack."