Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, recently said that sharing valuable information between government and private entities is essential to reliable cybersecurity.
Speaking at a July 25 committee hearing, Thune called for the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop a strong partnership with the private sector and work toward the common goal of protecting the country from cyber attacks.
“As the chair of the House Intelligence Committee has said, according to intelligence officials, allowing the government to share classified information with private companies could stop up to 90 percent of cyber attacks on U.S. networks,” Thune said. “It is also our hope that the Senate Homeland Security Committee can similarly work in a bipartisan fashion to make needed improvements to the Federal Information Security Management Act in order to better secure our federal networks. If our committees can work to produce complementary consensus legislation, that will be a significant step forward in this area.”
Thune said that, almost daily, a new cyber threat or attack emerges and poses a threat to either government agencies or the companies that drive the economy. He said it is imperative to find solutions that leverage the innovation and know-how of the private sector, as well as the expertise and information held by the federal government.
“Given the escalating nature of the threat, we should look for solutions that will have both an immediate impact and that will remain flexible and agile into the future,” Thune said.