BRUNSWICK, ME ­– U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released the following statement this evening in response to news that more than 76 million JPMorgan Chase accounts have been compromised by a cyber-attack:

“This terrible news only further underscores the urgent need for Congress to pass comprehensive cyber security legislation,” Senator King said. “The longer we wait to take action, the more vulnerable we become, and as we've seen today, Americans will pay the price. We simply cannot afford to wait any longer. Congress must work to pass legislation that will improve our capabilities and protect us against more attacks like these. The next Pearl Harbor will be cyber, and shame on us if we're not prepared for it. We have a bi-partisan bill teed up in the Senate and I'd like to see it move before the end of the year.”

In July, the Senate Intelligence Committee approved the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act by a vote of 12-3. The bill removes legal barriers for companies to share, receive, and use cyber threat information and cyber countermeasures (defensive measures) on a purely voluntary basis.  It also provides liability protection for the sharing of cyber information for cybersecurity purposes and provides protections to ensure that sharing of cyber information does not allow for privacy intrusions. Specifically, the bill requires companies to remove personally identifiable information from cyber threat information before sharing.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, Senator King has repeatedly voiced his concern about the danger of a cyber-attack or other destructive computer network exploitation activities that could cause damage to our national and economic security, including threats to the U.S. energy grid, financial services, or health sectors.

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