Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto applauded the unanimous passage of a bill she co-sponsored, the Making Available Information Now to Strengthen Trust and Resilience and Enhance Enterprise Technology (MAIN STREET) Cybersecurity Act, in the Senate last night. Introduced by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and James Risch (R-Idaho), this bipartisan bill will provide a consistent set of resources for small businesses to best protect their digital assets from cybersecurity threats.
“95.6% of employers in Nevada are small businesses. Because they are the cornerstone of our state’s economy, it is important that they be equipped with the resources necessary to defend themselves from cyberattacks like the one that exposed the data of 143 million Equifax customers just a few weeks ago,” said Cortez Masto. “The bill I co-sponsored will give small businesses greater access to industry-led guidelines that will help them keep their employees, resources, and customers safe.”
In 2014, the Senate unanimously passed the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014, which codified the industry-led process for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, a comprehensive voluntary guide for organizations and businesses to better manage and reduce cybersecurity risks. While this framework continues to play a key role in improving the cyber resilience of the United States, additional coordinated resources may be necessary to improve the ability of small businesses to use it. The MAIN STREET Cybersecurity Act will ensure NIST considers the needs of small businesses as it updates the framework and provide simplified, consistent resources based on the NIST framework specifically for small businesses.
Cosponsors of MAIN STREET Cybersecurity Act include U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.).
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