USTelecom, CTIA and NCTA urged House and Senate leaders to...
USTelecom, CTIA and NCTA urged House and Senate leaders to spurn federal “top-down” cybersecurity regulations in lieu of industry best practices. Their appeal came in a letter sent Wednesday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Minority Leader Mitch…
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McConnell, R-Ky., Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. It would be “disastrous” for Congress to adopt any plan that “slows industry response time to hostile cyber activity,” said the letter signed by NCTA President Michael Powell, CTIA President Steve Largent and USTelecom President Walter McCormick. “Shifting to a regulatory approach will divert resources and attention from deterrence to compliance with particular rules that will quickly become outdated,” the letter said. “Wherever possible, the government should rely on industry best practices to establish appropriate cybersecurity measures rather than impose prescriptive rules,” it said. The industry groups outlined six priorities that Congress should consider as it works to secure private and public systems from cyberthreats. In addition to avoiding federal cybersecurity mandates, lawmakers should promote “effective sharing of cyberthreat information” between the government and the private sector, it said. “Legislation that removes the current legal barriers to information sharing and establishes the appropriate safeguards for the use of such information would greatly improve cybersecurity.” The government should also update the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), promote cybersecurity investment, increase public cybersecurity awareness and ensure that all industry stakeholders have a role in cybersecurity defense, the letter said. Momentum for cybersecurity legislation has been building following the introduction of S-2105, the Cybersecurity Act, and the Strengthening and Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information, and Technology (SECURE IT) Act (see separate report in this issue). Separately, a spokesman for USTelecom said it’s unlikely that lawmakers will vote on cybersecurity legislation until the next congressional work period.