Cybersecurity Act of 2015 Included in Omnibus Spending Bill

Christopher DeLacy is Partner and Norma Krayem a Senior Policy Advisor in our Washington, D.C. office

After weeks of negotiations and compromise, cybersecurity information sharing legislation has been included in Division N of the FY 16 Omnibus Appropriations Act. This legislation - negotiated between the House and Senate Intelligence, Homeland Security and Judiciary committees - changes and modifies a number of key aspects of how cyber threat information can be shared. These changes are more than had been seen in prior bills, including in the Senate-passed S. 754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), and the House-passed H.R. 1560, the Protecting Cyber Networks Act, and H.R. 1731, the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act. At this juncture, the President is expected to sign the Omnibus - including the cyber bill - into law.