On Feb. 15th, 2012, Elinor Mills reported for ZDNet on cybersecurity legislation. According to the article, Sens. Rockefeller, Lieberman, Collins, and Feinstein introduced the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 today.
A few details on the legislation:
- DHS has primary cybersecurity responsibility.
- DHS would determine which companies fall within the critical infrastructure definition. That definition is systems "whose disruption from a cyber attack would cause mass death, evacuation, or major damage to the economy, national security, or daily life."
- Companies would have the right to appeal their designation as critical infrastructure.
- If that appeal fails, DHS would work with those companies to develop cybersecurity standards.
- Once subject to cybersecurity standards, critical infrastructure companies would need to verify that they are meeting performance requirements. If they don't meet those standards, critical infrastructure companies could be subject to penalties.
- No internet kill switch.
- Unspecified means to increase information-sharing.
Notably, the legislation does not include emergency powers for the president.
The sponsors were quick to say that the legislation in no way resembles SOPA/PIPA.
As expected, the Chamber of Commerce and industry leaders criticized the bill.
You can find the ZDNet article here.
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As soon as Thomas has the actual text, I'll post the bill here.
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