Letter to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in Support of CISPA

February 14, 2013

We are writing to express our support for the reintroduction of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). We believe that CISPA provides a strong starting point for Congress to initiate debate on information sharing legislation this year.

As you are well aware, cybersecurity threats continue to grow in scope, scale and sophistication presenting risks to both the public and private sectors. Alarmingly, cybersecurity threats are targeting the very core of global commerce and security. Business Roundtable CEOs are united in their prioritization of cybersecurity as both a policy and operational issue and believe that the nation must develop much more sophisticated forms of collaboration if we are to prevail against our cybersecurity adversaries. Accordingly, Business Roundtable CEOs identified information sharing as the key building block for improved cybersecurity resilience in our consensus-based strategy, More Intelligent, More Effective Cybersecurity Protection.

We are pleased that the information sharing approach directed by CISPA would fill serious gaps in our current cybersecurity preparedness. For instance, the bill would establish a legally-protected information sharing framework for the two-way exchange of cybersecurity information between and among the public and private sectors, with strong liability protections for those operating within the framework. Furthermore, CISPA would direct the Director of National Intelligence to work with the Secretary of Homeland Security to release procedures and guidelines for sharing cybersecurity threat information with the private sector. Most importantly, the sum of the capabilities orchestrated by CISPA would lead to improved information sharing, and ultimately, improved public-private cybersecurity risk management. 

Business Roundtable stands ready to work with you and your co-sponsors to ensure that CISPA establishes a legally-protected information sharing framework that will initiate improved public-private collaboration, while at the same time ensuring proper controls and mechanisms are in place to protect privacy and civil liberties. We encourage you to continue your work with your counterparts in the Senate and with the Administration to ensure that CISPA can expeditiously pass both chambers of Congress and be signed by the President.

Sincerely, 

John Engler

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C:      

Ajay Banga

President and CEO, MasterCard Worldwide

Chair, Business Roundtable Information and Technology Committee

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