On April 6th, 2012, Matthew Rhoades (Director of Legislative Affairs, Truman National Security Project) wrote an op-ed for The Hill on cybersecurity legislation. The op-ed generally looked at the debate over cybersecurity legislation in the Senate and compared the two major bills: Secure IT (backed by Sen. McCain and the Chamber of Commerce) and the CSA (backed by Sen. Lieberman). Again, Secure IT focuses on incentivizing information sharing whereas the CSA is more regulatory in nature. The op-ed didn't provide any new details on the bills, but did give a good overview of the debate.
I really liked Rhoades' argument that passing cybersecurity legislation could be a "glimmer[] of bipartisan hope in 2012." I was hopeful (perhaps naive) that Congress would pass cybersecurity legislation quickly; everyone agreed that cybersecurity is a huge concern, and the House bills were flying through committee in late 2011. However, everything got bogged down as soon as cybersecurity hit the Senate.
The op-ed suggested that passage of comprehensive cybersecurity legislation would be Congress' crowning bipartisan achievement. I agree. It would be fantastic if Congress could put aside partisan politics, address an area of dire need, and pass a cybersecurity bill. Then again, maybe I'm expecting too much.
Rhoades noted that the House proposals will likely reach the floor at the end of April. The Senate proposals will follow in May.
You can find The Hill source here.
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