Bills Introduced – 03-24-15

Yesterday the House and Senate introduced 65 bills. Only two of those may be of specific interest to readers of this blog:

HR 1560 - To improve cybersecurity in the United States through enhanced sharing of information about cybersecurity threats, and for other purposes. Rep. Nunes, Devin [R-CA-22]

S Res 110 - A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate about a strategy for the Internet of Things to promote economic growth and consumer empowerment.  Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE]

While the official copy of HR 1560 has not yet been published by the GPO, the House Intelligence Committee does have a copy of the bill, a summary, and a section-by-section review of the bill available on their web site. I have not yet had a chance to do a complete review of the bill, but it does specifically include industrial control systems in its definition of information systems {§11(8)(b)}.

This will be the last mention of S Res 110. The bill was introduced and passed yesterday in the Senate. It was passed by unanimous consent in the closing minutes of yesterday’s session. No vote was taken and there were probably few members even present. Again the official copy of the resolution has not been printed by the GPO, but Sen. Fischer has a copy on her web site.

The bill was feel good statement of the ‘sense of the Senate’ that the internet of things is a good thing to be encouraged in a way that “maximizes the promise connected technologies hold to empower consumers, foster future economic growth, and improve our collective social well-being”. The closest thing to a statement about the concerns relating to security of the IOT is found in the closing statement exhorting innovators to “commit to improving the quality of life for future generations by developing safe [emphasis added], new technologies aimed at tackling the most challenging societal issues facing the world”. Please save us from well-meaning but technologically inept politicians.