Skip to main content

Buck Votes to Improve Cybersecurity

April 23, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Katherine Rosario, 202-226-8414

Washington â€" Today, the House voted to pass H.R. 1731, the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015, which amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to encourage voluntary information sharing about cyber threats, with liability protections, between and among the private sector and the federal government. Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO) voted to pass the bill and released the following statement:

"We all saw the threat in real life when Sony was hacked. This legislation allows companies to tell each other about hacking attacks in real time without fear of legal repercussions. It's like a neighborhood watch against hackers," said Congressman Buck.

H.R. 1731 amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to encourage voluntary information sharing about cyber threats, with liability protections, between and among the private sector and Federal government; designates the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the lead civilian portal for voluntary cyber threat information sharing; enhances the capabilities of the DHS Chief Privacy Officer and Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to ensure NCCIC complies with all civilian laws that protect Americans’ privacy and civil liberties; requires private companies to scrub and remove personal information unrelated to the cybersecurity risk before sharing with NCCIC or other private entities; instructs NCCIC to conduct a second scrub and destroy any personal information that is unrelated to the cybersecurity risk before further sharing with other government entities or private entities; ensures that cyber threat information is used solely to prevent and respond to cyber-attacks and enhance the nation’s cyber defenses; prevents such information from being used for surveillance purposes; provides liability protections to companies for the voluntary sharing of cyber threat indicators and defensive measures with NCCIC or with other private entities; allows companies to operate defensive measures and conduct network awareness on information systems they own or operate; grants liability protections for private companies to conduct network awareness of their own information systems; and preserves existing public-private partnerships to ensure ongoing collaboration on cybersecurity.

Rep. Ken Buck (CO-04) is the Freshman Class President. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He serves on the OGR Subcommittees on Government Operations and the Interior and is a member of the Judiciary Subcommittees on Immigration and Border Security and Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations.

Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Issues:Security