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Important Step Forward for Cybersecurity Protection

David_Hoffman
Employee
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david-hoffman-headshot2-e1334676977565-126x150.jpgEvery day, U.S. businesses are targeted for cyber exploitation and theft, resulting in huge losses of valuable intellectual property and sensitive information. Intel supports the bipartisan Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011, a voluntary and appropriately balanced approach to information sharing that will improve cybersecurity while at the same time offering meaningful protections for personal data.

Over the last decade we have invested billions of dollars to develop software, hardware, services and integrated solutions designed to advance cybersecurity across the compute continuum. Governments, businesses and consumers are facing a cybersecurity threat landscape that has become dramatically more challenging. Countering these increasingly sophisticated threats to networks, intellectual property and privacy requires breaking down the legal and policy barriers that currently impede the sharing of actionable threat information from government to industry, and from industry to both government and other private sector entities.

The “Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011” represents a critical first step in facilitating the sharing of the threat and vulnerability information that will help government and industry to better protect themselves and their citizens and customers, and will also help maximize the effectiveness of innovative security technologies that rely on this information.

Intel has long advocated that building trust in the global digital infrastructure requires not only strengthening security, but protecting personal information and privacy. Improving cybersecurity is fundamentally important for protecting consumer privacy and decreasing unauthorized access to personal data. It is also critical individuals have confidence their private data is not inappropriately shared with the government. We are pleased with the effort congressional staff has taken to make clear in the revised language of the bill that the intent is not to monitor the daily activities of individuals, or for the information sharing mechanisms contemplated in the bill to be used to enforce copyright restrictions on movies and music.
We look forward to working with stakeholders as the bill heads toward possible consideration on the floor of the House of Representatives next week to help address additional privacy implications in a way that does not unnecessarily dilute the important cybersecurity enhancing provisions. Industry, government and individuals share a common need for improved cybersecurity and this bill represents a substantial step forward.