Companion Cybersecurity Bill Passes in House

The House passed a second cybersecurity bill, the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015 (HR 1731), that would make it easier to share cyber threat information.

The vote was 355 to 63, and followed passage of a companion bill, the Protecting Cyber Networks Act (HR 1560), on April 22. The National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act amends the Homeland Security Act to ease info sharing while protecting civil liberties. The bill encourages voluntary sharing of cyber threat info between companies and with the government. It provides for the voluntary exchange of "government-to-private" and "private-to-private" threat information, and would provide liability protection for companies who monitor their information systems and take measures to defend them from attack.

The bill was the handiwork of Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX).