House Passes Cybersecurity Bill After Companies Fall Victim to Data Breaches

Responding to a series of computer security breaches in government and the private sector, the House passed an expansive measure that would push companies to share access to their computer networks and records with federal investigators.

The House bill would provide legal liability protections for companies that share cyberthreat information with each other or with the government. But negotiators also added what they see as critical privacy protections. If a company shares information with the government, it would receive liability protection only if its data undergoes two rounds of washing out personal information -- once by the company before it gives the data to the government and another round by the government agency that receives the data, which many experts believe is critical in getting companies to comply.

The bill, which came after years of false starts and bitter disappointment for the Obama Administration, is similar to a measure approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee and headed for that chamber’s floor this spring. The House measure, already largely embraced by the White House, passed, 307 to 116.