United States Senate And Transportation Security Administration Take Steps Toward Expanding Cybersecurity Requirements

Last week, the United States Senate and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) each took steps toward expanding cybersecurity requirements for private sector entities. In the US Senate, a bipartisan group of 15 Senators led by Mark Warner (D-VA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Susan Collins (RME)-respectively the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and a senior member of the Select Committee on Intelligence-introduced the Cyber Incident Notification Act of 2021. Meanwhile, TSA issued its second Security Directive since the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, setting forth cybersecurity requirements for critical pipelines. These developments signal continuing appetite in Congress and in the Executive Branch to move beyond voluntary guidelines and establish new rules of the road on cybersecurity and incident reporting in key sectors.