Information Sharing Under The New Cybersecurity Law

The text of the the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) was incorporated by amendment into a consolidated spending bill in the House and signed into law by President Obama late last year. The basic assumption is that rapid and widespread information sharing regarding cybersecurity threats will improve the ability of all organizations to respond. In a Today’s General Counsel article, Michael P. Hindelang from the Honigman law firm explains the law, what organizations are covered, what can be shared, and with what kinds of protections provided. He also considers one especially difficult issue this law addresses: If a company reports information about a breach to the federal government – information that may include confidential or trade secret information – will it be accessible to others by way of a Freedom of Information Act request?