Rogers to Reintroduce Cybersecurity Bill

Legislation, backed by cable ops, is focused on info sharing and liability protection

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/11/2013 4:41:42 PM

Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and ranking member C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), will reintroduce their cybersecurity bill on Wednesday.

Cable and telco operators backed the bill, which emphasized information threat sharing, but it was not supported by most Democrats, who backed legislation seeking cybersecurity best-practice guidelines.

The bill is identical to last year's bill, which passed the Republican-controlled House 248 to 168.

The bill allows the federal government to share classified threat info with the private sector, allows businesses to share info with the government and provides liability protection for sharing that info. The bill also has protections for privacy and civil liberties.

"This is clearly not a theoretical threat -- the recent spike in advanced cyber-attacks against the banks and newspapers makes that crystal clear," said Rogers in a statement. "American businesses are under siege."

The president has threatened to issue an executive order on cybersecurity following the inability to come to agreement in the last Congress. He is still expected to do so, according to sources, but it may be general enough in scope for ISPs to live with.