NSA

Date: Friday, April 10, 2015

President Obama has made the public-private sharing of threat information one of the most pressing priorities in his massive push to protect the nation’s cyber infrastructure. In February at the Cyber Security Summit, the President signed an executive order to promote better sharing of threat information, “both within the private sector and between government and the private sector.” As part of that strategy, he has called upon Congress to pass legislation to increase the flow of threat information.

Yet, Congress has attempted to pass such legislation before and was met with vigorous opposition. Almost two years ago the “Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)” met an abrupt end amid civil liberties, privacy, and surveillance concerns — and that was before the NSA revelations by Edward Snowden.

Now the President and Congress are back with new legislation to protect cyber systems via information sharing. Bills are being prepared and you are likely to see Congress vote on it shortly. Our panel of experts will explore the issues related to information sharing, whether the approach will secure the homeland and whether the legislation puts civil liberties and privacy at risk.

Speakers:

Cory Bennett, Cyber Security Reporter, The Hill (Moderator)
Robyn Greene, Policy Counsel, Open Technology Institute at New America
Dena Graziano, Director, Federal Government Affairs, Symantec
Heather Molino, Cornerstone Government Affairs (former Minority Staff Director for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence)