WASHINGTON — Leaders of the House intelligence committee have crafted bipartisan legislation aimed at fostering the exchange of online information between the private sector and the government to better protect commercial computer networks from cyberattacks.
The bill, introduced Wednesday by the committee’s chairman, Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and ranking Democrat, Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., has strong support from the telecommunications industry. The White House and civil-liberties advocates, however, have raised concerns that the bill could jeopardize individuals’ privacy.
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 exempts private companies from liability for sharing data with the government, as well as for any failure to use that data to improve their networks. The goal, Rogers said, is to encourage the private sector and the government to exchange information that could be useful in protecting systems that are critical to the nation’s security and economic interests.
Data that could flow from companies to the government include Internet protocol addresses that a firm detects in a hacking incident on its network or samples of malicious software that turn up on its computers. The government could share classified intelligence it has gathered about online threats.
Companies would not be forced to share data, and they could decide which government agency to share it with.
The Obama administration has concerns that industry liability exemptions are too generous, but Rogers said that protecting them from lawsuits for sharing data or failing to act on the data was a key incentive.
The committee could consider the bill as soon as today.
