US: White House calls for info-sharing protections

The White House has called on Congress to pass legislation aimed at allowing companies to share information regarding potential security threats, a proposal aimed at increasing collaboration between firms without fear of violating antitrust laws.

President Obama submitted legislation to Congress Tuesday, reports say, as he hopes to gain momentum from recent, high-profile security hacks involving US corporations.

”With the Sony attack that took place, with the Twitter account that was hacked by Islamist jihadist sympathizers yesterday, it just goes to show how much more work we need to do, both public and private sector, to strengthen our cybersecurity to make sure that the family bank accounts are safe, to make sure that our public infrastructure is safe,” the President said at a meeting with congressional leaders Tuesday.

Crucial to the bill, reports say, is protecting companies from antitrust laws that bar firms from sharing information, a practice that could harm competition if companies share market-sensitive documents.

Obama spoke about the proposals at the Homeland Security Department’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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