ISA's sibling: House passes new cyber threat-sharing bill

The United States House of Representatives has approved a controversial cyber bill that would encourage companies to share information about computer attacks with the federal government.

On Wednesday afternoon, lawmakers in the House voted 307-116 in favor of the Protecting Cyber Networks Act. It envisions expanded legal liability protections for corporations, if they choose to voluntarily share certain kinds of digital data through a government “cyber portal” administered by the Department of Homeland Security.

The Senate still has to approve the bill before it lands on the desk of President Barack Obama. A signiture from the commander in chief would ensure firms are not liable, concerning the threat of information shared with the feds.

“At some point, we need to stop just hearing about cyber attacks that steal our most valuable trade secrets and our most private information, and actually do something to stop them," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Ca.) , the committee’s ranking Democrat, said on the House floor.

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