Proposed Bill Would Make Cybersecurity Disclosure The Board’s Responsibility

The Cybersecurity Disclosure Act of 2017 Would Make The Board Report on Its Own Expertise

An article review.

For those of you wondering if you should be adding a Cybersecurity expert to your board of directories, you may be getting out in advance of law.  We at infotex have been invited to consult with several bank boards, and have found the engagements to be both productive and enlightening.  But will future law allow this function to be outsourced?

The number of cybersecurity related incidents at major corporations over the last few years hasn’t escaped the attention of voters, or the politicians that represent them, as evidenced by a bill introduced in the Senate this month.

The Cybersecurity Disclosure Act of 2017 would require SEC filings to indicate the amount of cybersecurity expertise possessed by a firm’s Board of Directors–or lacking that, what they’re doing to make up for that lack of expertise. These disclosure provisions make up the bulk of the bill, which aim to provide transparency for shareholders and provide an incentive for corporate leadership to get ahead of security issues before they become security breaches.

While the future of this bill is uncertain it is part of a growing trend in legislation addressing the issue of cybersecurity, including regulations that recently went into effect in New York State requiring organizations to produce annual cybersecurity reports. We can only expect to see similar attempts in the future as voters become more aware of the risks they face when they trust businesses with their private information.

Original article by Kevin Townsend writing for Securityweek.