Verizon-Supported Cybersecurity Bill Advances in U.S. House

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) — The House Intelligence Committee
approved a bill encouraging telecommunications companies
including Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. to share
data on hacker attacks with the U.S. government.

Under the measure, which cleared today in a 17 to 1 vote,
companies would be protected from civil or criminal lawsuits for
“acting in good faith” to inform government agencies that
hackers have attacked their computer systems or compromised
personal information.

Cable, Internet and telecommunications providers have
backed the legislation allowing them share to information with
the government on a voluntary basis, while giving corporations
access to classified intelligence on cybersecurity threats so
they can protect their networks. The government would certify
companies that are qualified to receive classified intelligence.

“Coordination and information-sharing are now accepted and
expected practices in preventing crimes that seek to damage
critical infrastructure, such as communications networks,”
Peter Davidson, Verizon’s senior vice president for federal
government relations, said in a statement before today’s vote.
The bill “improves our nation’s ability to identify and
mitigate cyber threats before they can do damage,” he said.

Privacy groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union
have criticized the measure, expressing concern that it would
circumvent existing law, let companies give people’s personal
information to the government while granting corporations legal
protections from lawsuits by consumer advocates or citizen
groups.

Privacy Review

Democrats added an amendment directing the inspector
general for U.S. intelligence agencies to review and report on
government use of the information that companies provide.

The bill, H.R. 3523, advanced as the Obama administration
tells telecommmunications companies to divulge confidential
information about their networks in a hunt for Chinese
cyberspying. The U.S. Commerce Department distributed a survey
in April to dozens of telecommunication, software and
information-security companies, requiring a detailed outline of
who made the equipment they use.

Chinese phone-equipment makers Huawei Technologies Co. and
ZTE Corp. are the subject of a House Intelligence Committee
investigation into the possible security risks of the companies’
U.S. expansion.

The probe is focusing on whether the companies’ presence
provides “the Chinese government an opportunity for foreign
espionage,” Rogers and C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, the
committee’s top Democrat, said in a Nov. 17 statement.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Shepard at
mshepard7@bloomberg.net

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