Schumer calls for vote on stalled cyber bill

by Katie Bo Williams - 09/11/15 2:48 PM ET

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) says he wants Congress to get moving on a stalled cybersecurity bill, in the wake of a massive hack on a New York BlueCross BlueShield plan that was revealed this week.

The Excellus BlueCross BlueShield hack exposed 10 million members, putting it among the 20 worst healthcare breaches ever reported. The breach went undiscovered for more than a year.

{mosads}“The fact that this data breach was not discovered for 19 months just goes to show how sophisticated online hackers are and how much work we have to do when it comes to protecting our personal information,” Schumer said in a Thursday statement.

He included a call for information sharing between intelligence and law enforcement agencies to prevent further attacks.

When the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) will see floor time during a busy legislative calendar remains up in the air.

Intended to boost the exchange of cyber-threat data between private companies and the government, CISA has been bogged down by privacy concerns and procedural disputes.

Leadership vowed to get to the bill in September, but debate over the Iran nuclear deal and soon the budget agreement has stymied progress. Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) told The Hill on Tuesday that the Senate likely won’t move on CISA before October at the earliest.

Schumer also called on Congress to prioritize the need for universal data breach notification standards.

“I am urging my colleagues in Congress to strengthen consumer cyber protections and require companies to notify their customers if there has been a breach of their personal information in a timely matter so they can take action to ensure they are not the victim of identity theft,” he said.

Tags Chuck Schumer Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act