Senate Homeland Security Committee Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.) downplayed challenges companies face in discussing cyber-threats with the federal government following the recent lapse of a liability law that businesses are pushing Congress to reauthorize.
“Nothing stops industry from sharing the information to protect cybersecurity,” Paul told us. “It’s a farce and a false argument that somehow something’s going to change.”
Paul’s comments on the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act come as businesses ask the Hill that any move to reopen the government extend the provision for at least a short time. Industry is also looking to Paul’s committee for a longer-term solution.
The CISA provision expired Sept. 30 and had exempted businesses from certain types of liability. It gave businesses sharing information on cyber-threats, some immunity on antitrust, protections for trade secrets and release from public records laws.
Paul did concede that the lapse of CISA could actually cause some changes in cyber threat-sharing practice.
“All that would change is, industry would have to be a little bit careful about obeying their contracts they have with their consumers,” the chair said.
The Kentucky Republican made clear he’s committed to using reauthorization to forbid a cybersecurity agency (also known as CISA) “from meeting with legacy media, internet media… to try to restrict or coerce the taking down of constitutionally protected speech.”
And Paul said that’s the price for a deal. “We’re going to have to protect the First Amendment if you want your CISA stuff back.”
Corporate America has insisted on the value of the safe harbor.
“In cybersecurity, time matters,” said Amy Shuart, vice president of technology and innovation at the Business Roundtable, a trade group for top CEO’s. “When you’re shifting the decision to share information from the [chief information security] office to the general counsel’s office, that is a delay in being able to share actionable intelligence.”
While CISA reauthorization is broadly popular and was included in the failed Republican and Democratic continuing resolutions, Paul has repeatedly blocked unanimous consent requests to extend the CISA law.
Carr news. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr will testify before the Senate Commerce Committee before the year’s end.
The hearing will place Carr face-to-face with the panel’s chair, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who compared Carr to a “mafioso” over his reaction to Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s alleged murderer. The hearing will be on free speech and potential government “censorship” issues.
