House Passes Cyber Crime Bill

Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security U.S. House Federal Legislation

On May 16, the U.S. House of Representatives officially approved the Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017 (H.R. 1616) in a vote of 408-3. The Act would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2012 to formalize the Secret Service’s National Computer Forensic Institute’s (NCFI) responsibilities for coordinating investigations into cyberattacks and hacks and would provide training and tools for state and local agencies dealing with electronic crime related threats. In an April press release issued by the bill’s sponsor, Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Tex.), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, stated, “The [NCFI] has played a major role in equipping state and local law enforcement officers across the country with the tools they need to address the extra layers of complexity presented by the growing incidences of cybercrime,” Notably, the legislation, which now heads to the Senate, follows the recent international cyberattack that infected computer systems globally with the WannaCry ransomware (see previous InfoBytes coverage here).