Congress Passes Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Cybersecurity; Most Significant Cyber Bill to Pass Congress in Over a Decade

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed S. 2519, the National Cybersecurity Protection Act of 2014, and a Senate amendment to H.R. 2952, the Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act - bipartisan legislation to strengthen our nation's cyber defenses.

Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security: "The cyber bills passed this week are a historic moment in the fight against cyber-attacks. Every day Americans' private information is lost in criminal data breaches like those at Target and Home Depot. Nation-state actors, such as Russia, China and Iran, are increasingly hacking into U.S. companies and government networks to conduct espionage or steal intellectual property. In fact, former Director of the NSA, General Keith Alexander described this loss of IP as "the greatest transfer of wealth in history.' However, the most malicious threat is from those who wish to do our country harm by shutting down our power grid, energy or water systems.

"With the passage of these bipartisan and bicameral bills, we can protect our vital digital private and government networks from daily attacks from foreign enemies across the globe by encouraging and supporting federal and private sector threat sharing. These bills are a significant step in the right direction, and my colleagues have shown that cybersecurity is a priority for this Congress. But there is more work to be done."

Rep. Patrick Meehan, chairman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies: "S. 2519 is the first significant cyber legislation in a decade and among the most important legislation that has been passed this Congress. Cyber-attacks against government agencies, corporations and consumers have grown exponentially over the past year, and losses from these breaches have reached into the billions of dollars. Cyber capabilities of our adversaries -- both states and non-state actors -- continue to grow and outpace our efforts to defend against them. This legislation is a major achievement to improve our nation's cybersecurity defenses, improve coordination between government and private sector and protect the personal data of millions of American consumers. It also protects privacy rights: the ACLU has called it "pro-security and pro-privacy.' I'm proud of this landmark legislation and I'm grateful to my colleagues for their support.

"Furthermore, the cyber threat from around the world must be met by talented professionals as much as technology. H.R. 2952, gives the Department of Homeland Security new tools to compete with private sector companies and recruit the talented and well-trained cyber warriors we need to protect us from cyber attack."

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