Would information sharing act help credit unions?

One of my faithful readers emailed yesterday and asked me what I thought of the cyber security legislation that passed the Senate earlier this week. So here goes:  Quite simply any action that shows Congress is waking up to the need for federal  action aimed at creating a more robust cyber security infrastructure   is a step in the right direction, but since  the core challenge of making merchants more responsible for how they protect consumer information remains. Credit unions will see little direct or immediate benefit if this legislation becomes law.

Senate bill 754, The Cyber Security Information  Sharing Act of 2015,  passed with strong bipartisan support and takes some important steps  designed to make it easier for the government and the private sector to respond to and deter cyber threats.  For example Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, the Department Of Defense and the Justice Department would have to promulgate procedures for the “timely sharing” of  classified cyber threat indicators. The bill would also setup a framework that  would allow  companies to voluntarily monitor  each other’s information systems.  Companies that exercise these powers are shielded from lawsuits, including those alleging   violations of antitrust law.

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