While the recent government shutdown has had many wide-reaching consequences so far, there have also been a number of seemingly less important victims that haven’t gotten as much media attention. One such victim is the 2015 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), which expired earlier this month and has not been renewed.

The expiration of CISA has been easy to miss amid the more immediate effects of the shutdown, but the loss of this legislation has dismantled a vital component of the nation’s cybersecurity infrastructure and the impact may not be fully realized for some time.

Why is the CISA so important? It provided a legal shield for private sector companies to share threat intelligence with US Government cybersecurity agencies, and without such protection there’s a risk that a vital source of data on threats will dry up, potentially leaving the government, and those who rely on it, blind.

The damage from the expiration of CISA isn’t obvious now, but as time goes on and new threats arise the potential for a security incident can only rise. In recognition of this risk some organizations, such as CrowdStrike, have stated they will continue sharing threat intelligence with the government. Other organizations including Palo Alto Networks have expressed concern and have not committed to continuing to provide information.

It appears likely that the CISA will be renewed once the current budget crisis is solved, as support for the bill appears to be strong. Whether our networks can wait until then however has yet to be seen.