S 4000 Introduced – DHS and Congress Info Sharing

Earlier this month, Sen Portman (R,OH) introduced S 4000, the Intragovernmental Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. The bill would require DHS to enter into information sharing agreements with the House and Senate on cybersecurity issues. No funding authorization is included in this bill.

The Agreements

The agreements would be made with the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the House Chief Administrative Officer. The agreements could include processes for:

• Direct and timely sharing of technical indicators and contextual information on cyber threats and vulnerabilities,

• Direct and timely sharing of classified and unclassified reports on cyber threats and activities, and

• Seating of cybersecurity personnel of the Senate or the House of Representatives at cybersecurity operations centers.

Periodic reports to Congress would be required by DHS on the status of the implementation of the agreements.

Moving Forward

Portman and one of this three cosponsors {Sen Peters (D,MI)} are members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (Peters is the Chair), so there should be sufficient influence to see this bill considered in Committee. There is nothing in the bill that would engender any organized opposition to the legislation. I expect that the bill would receive strong bipartisan support and the bill would be a strong candidate for consideration on the floor of the Senate under the unanimous consent process.

The mere introduction of this bill could be sufficient impetus to see such agreements formalized.