Review - S 2629 Introduced - Better Cybercrime Metrics

Earlier this month, Sen Schatz introduced S 2629, the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act. The bill would require DOJ to establish a taxonomy for classifying cybercrime in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and would require the reporting of cybercrimes according to that taxonomy. The bill provides for $1 million to support the development of the taxonomy, including a study on the topic by the National Academy of Sciences.

While Schatz is not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration, his three co-sponsors {Sen Tillis (R,NC), Sen Cornyn (R,TX), and Sen Blumenthal (D,CT)} are members. This means that there is a good chance that there is enough influence to see this bill considered in Committee. Other than the relatively small funding authorized by this bill, I do not see anything that would engender significant opposition to this bill. The bill would probably be approved by a significantly bipartisan majority in Committee.

I suspect that the bill would receive sufficient bipartisan support to allow it to pass the cloture process if the bill were considered by the Senate. Having said that, I cannot see the Senate leadership taking up limited legislative time for the consideration of this bill. The most likely path forward for this legislation is to be included as an amendment in a spending or authorization bill.

For more details about the provisions of the bill, and my analysis of its shortcomings, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-2629-introduced - subscription required.