The US Senate passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) yesterday with a 74-21 vote.
As a cybersecurity bill, CISA is a joke: It doesn’t address the security problems that create the conditions for hacks. What it will create a streamlined information pipeline for the NSA.
CISA coasted through the Senate because fears about hackers are at an all-time high, and it has the word “cybersecurity” in it. You know what many people in Congress are scared of, even more than hackers? Losing political points!
An online campaign helped make SOPA and PIPA the legislative equivalent of smallpox blankets, and CISA opponents like Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) are hoping to drum up grassroots support in a similar way. “Back when we started NSA reform, we only got a handful of votes,” he told me. “Today we got 21, so we are just gonna keep building.”
The bill goes into a committee conference next, which means members of the House and Senate will meet to discuss the final language. The members of that committee haven’t even been named and might not get their assignments for weeks, so there’s time. “We’re going to move at a very slow pace,” Bill sponsor Sen. Burr (R-NC) said after the vote.
Photo: Fight the Future.