Cyber information sharing law would get extension under shutdown deal bill

The Cybersecurity and Information Sharing Act of 2015 would go from expired to extended through Jan. 30.

Legislation to end the federal government shutdown includes a provision that would extend an expired cybersecurity information sharing law through the end of January.

Extension of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 is something industry groups have coveted since even before its sunset at the end of September. Previous attempts to extend it fell short amid the political battle over government funding.

Businesses and cyber experts say the law’s legal protections are vital to sharing threat data between companies, and between industry and the government. Now, with the extension language in the continuing resolution bill that also includes three short-term appropriations bills, Congress is poised to restore it to life, at least temporarily.

The Senate voted 60-40 on Sunday night to advance the legislation. It still would have to get a successful House vote and a signature from President Donald Trump.

If that bill becomes law, the House and Senate would have a short window to advance a more permanent solution. The respective leaders of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs panel, Rand Paul, R-Ky., have introduced bills that would take significantly different approaches to amending and extending the 2015 law.

The Trump administration has pushed for a 10-year extension without any changes.

Cyber observers say that a long-term lapse of the 2015 law could have dire consequences. But there’s been little sign thus far that its expiration in October has slowed threat information sharing.

Paul could present a hurdle to the overall continuing resolution bill, still.

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

Technology

• European parliament members call for slowdown of Serbia’s EU entry over spyware use

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

Threats

• Chinese espionage groups swarm to exploit triple-link chain of zero-days

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure