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Massive year-end spending bill includes cybersecurity act

FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2105 file photo, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee speaks to the media on Capitol Hill in Washington. The massive year-end spending measure includes a bill encouraging companies to share cyber threat information with the government. Schiff urged lawmakers to support the bill and said it was a major improvement over the bill put forward last session, which he opposed because of what he said were its lack of privacy protections. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2105 file photo, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee speaks to the media on Capitol Hill in Washington. The massive year-end spending measure includes a bill encouraging companies to share cyber threat information with the government. Schiff urged lawmakers to support the bill and said it was a major improvement over the bill put forward last session, which he opposed because of what he said were its lack of privacy protections. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2105 file photo, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee speaks to the media on Capitol Hill in Washington. The massive year-end spending measure includes a bill encouraging companies to share cyber threat information with the government. Schiff urged lawmakers to support the bill and said it was a major improvement over the bill put forward last session, which he opposed because of what he said were its lack of privacy protections. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

By Associated Press 3 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The massive year-end spending measure includes a provision that will encourage companies to share cyber threat information with the government.

The measure, which represents a culmination of several years of effort to pass a cyber bill, brings together three different versions that passed the House and Senate earlier this year with hefty bipartisan support. It was released early Wednesday morning.

The Cybersecurity Act of 2015 largely hews to the Senate version of the bill, which passed despite concerns about privacy and transparency from some senators and technology companies, such as Apple and Yelp.

But there are some changes.

The bill allows the president to designate an agency other than the civilian Homeland Security Department to act as a portal for sharing cyber threats with the government only if DHS cannot and it is necessary. However, the Defense Department, including its National Security Agency, is specifically excluded for becoming an alternate portal.