Could New Cybersecurity Bill Do More Harm than Good?

The House recently passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA), a bill designed to encourage the sharing of data between private companies and the government, in order to prevent and respond to cybersecurity threats. Opponents of the bill, however, protested early on that this would create a legal framework for companies to more closely monitor web users and share that data with government agencies.

The growing number of information security and hacking incidents certainly stress the importance of improving U.S. cybersecurity and Privacy and Network Security practices, however is CISA the right move to make? Numerous privacy advocates don’t feel it is. They fear that such data collection could serve as an alternative surveillance tool for federal agencies, and could threaten civil liberties in addition to undermining cybersecurity; the very thing the bill was designed to protect.

A recent survey of information security professionals found that 87% of the respondents didn’t believe information sharing measures such as CISA would significantly reduce privacy breaches. The bill will essentially let law enforcement and other government agencies use the information it receives to investigate all crimes, not just cyber-crimes; potentially taking the focus off of cybersecurity altogether. Privacy advocates feel that the issue of cybersecurity is not being adequately addressed, and reform needs to be made in order to improve security.

At PLRisk Advisors, our Privacy and Network Security Coverage is the solution to helping your clients manage and protect against risk. Please contact us today for more information at (855) 403-5982.