Dive Brief:
- The Senate appears closer to passing the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act after a procedural vote yesterday passed with flying colors, NBC News reported.
- CISA aims to improve cybersecurity by encouraging the sharing of threat information among companies and the U.S. government.
- Several tech companies oppose the bill.
Dive Insight:
CISA, which sets up incentives for businesses to share threat information with each other and with government agencies and would eventually result in tools to protect business and government networks, has been the subject of passionate lobbying by privacy groups over the past several months. Companies such as Apple and Dropbox say it fails to protect users' privacy.
CISA is co-sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Sen. Richard Burr.
"This is a good bill. It is a first step,” said Feinstein. “It's not going to prevent all cyberattacks or penetrations, but it will allow companies to share information about the cyber threats they see and the defensive measures to implement to protect their networks.”
On Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell said the Senate could pass the bill, "hopefully by early next week."
