A bill introduced in the House of Representatives Thursday would require the Department of Homeland Security to take a lead role in identifying and developing cybersecurity standards for systems that control critical infrastructure. The bill also would create a non-profit clearinghouse for the sharing of cybersecurity threat information between government agencies and the private sector. Unlike some other pending data-security proposals, the bill does not include provisions requiring businesses to establish comprehensive data-security programs or to provide breach notifications.

H.R. 3674, titled the “PRECISE Act” and introduced by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), directs the Department of Homeland Security to identify and evaluate cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure, including private infrastructure; to identify existing standards for mitigating those risks, or to develop such standards if necessary; to create market incentives to encourage the use of the identified performance standards; and to work with the relevant agencies to incorporate “the most effective and cost-efficient” of the identified standards into the regulatory regimes governing covered critical infrastructure. The bill defines “covered critical infrastructure” as facilities or functions in which a disruption could cause significant loss of life, major economic disruption, mass evacuations for an extended length of time, or a severe degradation of national security.Continue Reading Proposed Cybersecurity Bill Focuses on Critical Infrastructure, Encouraging Information Sharing