Category Archives: congress

Senators introduce bill to counter bad cybersecurity practices in credit reporting industry

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Two Democratic senators introduced a bill Wednesday that would provide new regulatory powers for the Federal Trade Commission so that it can punish companies like Equifax and others in the credit reporting industry for poor cybersecurity practices. The “Data Breach Prevention and Compensation Act” by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Mark Warner, D-Va., contains plans for the creation of a “Cybersecurity Office” within the FTC to be led by a career supervisor who will be able to enforce financial penalties on rule breakers. This supervisor would need to maintain relations with the credit reporting industry as the FTC proposes future cybersecurity standards and other related regulations. The move comes in the wake of the massive data breach at Equifax in 2017, which caused the private records of more than 145 million Americans to be compromised by hackers. A subsequent investigation into the incident by the FBI showed that an outdated piece […]

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How Congress could handle cybersecurity-focused bills in 2018

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As the year begins anew for Congress, lawmakers face a daunting legislative list that includes decisions on a number of cybersecurity-focused laws. CyberScoop polled a half dozen people who work on cybersecurity policy issues to come up with a verdict on each piece of possible legislation — and get their broader take on the possibilities for cyber law-making in 2018. The experts looked at the following bills: A new DHS cyber agency: H.R. 3359, passed by voice vote in the House in December, is awaiting action by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Election cybersecurity: S. 2261, introduced in December with bipartisan support, and referred to the Rules and Administration Committee. A companion bill in the House, H.R. 3751, was referred both to the Administration and Intelligence Committees. Internet of Things security standards: S.1691 was introduced in August and referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Companion […]

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