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.
Cableand 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.
