Verizon-Supported Telecom Cybersecurity Legislation Advances in U.S. House




The House Intelligence Committee
approved a bill encouraging telecommunications companies
including Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) 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 had attacked their computer systems or compromised
personal information.

“Our bill does not require additional federal spending or
the creation of a new government bureaucracy,” Mike Rogers, a
Michigan Republican and chairman of the committee, said in a
statement. “It does not impose additional federal regulation or
unfunded mandates on the private sector. To the contrary, the
bill is a critical, bipartisan first step to empowering the
private sector to do even more to protect its own networks.”

Cable, Internet and telecommunications providers have
backed the legislation allowing them to share 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 Concerns

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

To address privacy and civil liberties concerns, the bill
specifies that the government can only use information from
companies for cybersecurity or national security purposes,
Rogers said. Democrats added an amendment directing the
inspector general for U.S. intelligence agencies to review and
report on government use of the data that companies provide.

Chinese Espionage

The bill, H.R. 3523, advanced as the Obama administration
tells telecommunications 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 their 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.

Jim Langevin, a Democrat from Rhode Island and member of
the committee, said it would be a mistake to think that the bill
is sufficient on its own to fully address the nation’s
cybersecurity challenges. Langevin, who co-chaired an
independent commission on cybersecurity, also said he has
“‘very strong’’ privacy concerns about the bill.

‘‘Pushing out information is only one piece of the public-
private partnership’’ that the commission envisioned, he said in
a statement. ‘‘A number of other elements will be vital to
addressing the enormous intellectual property losses experienced
by our public and private sectors, as well as the alarming
vulnerabilities within our critical infrastructure.’’

To contact the reporter on this story:
Chris Strohm in Washington at
cstrohm1@bloomberg.net

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

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Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-01/verizon-supported-cybersecurity-bill-advances-in-u-s-house.html

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