Senate Republicans revamp cybersecurity bill

Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) introduced a new version of their cybersecurity bill, the Secure IT Act. The bill is similar to the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that passed the House in April and offers an alternative to the measure favored by the Senate Democratic leadership and the White House.

Like CISPA, Secure IT would remove legal barriers that prevent companies from sharing information about cyber threats with one another and with the government. The new version of the legislation, S. 3342, aims to address the concerns of privacy advocates, who had warned that the old bill would give spy agencies access to Americans' private online information. The Republican senators said their new bill tightens the definition of "cyber threat information" and clarifies that the government cannot use or retain the information for reasons other those specified in the bill. They also said it creates new oversight authorities to protect privacy and civil liberties.