adminThe U.S. Senate voted to stop debate on S. 754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, on Thursday by a 83-14 vote. The bill makes it easier for companies to share information about cyber attacks and also share with the government without the fear of being sued.
The League and CUNA support the bill, as do many other financial trade associations. The bill did include a number of amendments including one from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). His amendment would weaken liability protections in the bill for entities (including credit unions) that participate in information sharing arrangements created under the bill. CUNA and other financial trades sent a letter to Senate leadership asking them to not support the amendment. The letter stated that “this amendment would undermine these goals by jeopardizing a firm’s liability protections for even an inadvertent violation of a terms of service privacy agreement.” The amendment was eventually rejected.
CUNA and the other financial institution trades also opposed four other amendments because they weaken the bill or jeopardize its passing. The letter states that financial institutions need to know that “the information they voluntarily share about cyberthreats with the government will remain confidential.” All four amendments have been considered by the Senate, but no action has been taken on any of them.
The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week. The House passed its own version of the bill this past April. Once the bill has passed the Senate, it has to be reconciled with the House bill before it could be sent to the president’s desk.
