Proposed legislation

Senators Introduce Better Cybercrime Metrics Act

A group of senators has proposed legislation that would address the gap in measuring cybercrime incidents.

The newly introduced Better Cybercrime Metrics Act would require law enforcement agencies to report cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime within their jurisdictions to the FBI.

It would also mandate the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Census Bureau to ask questions about such incidents in the annual National Crime Victimization Survey, Nextgov reported.

Additionally, the bill would support the National Academies of Science in developing a taxonomy for cybercrime. Sponsors of the bill envision the effort to be participated by federal, state, local and tribal stakeholders, criminologists and private sector leaders.

One of the proponents of the legislation, Sen. Brian Schatz, believes that understanding the frequency of cybercrimes is crucial to protecting people and fighting online crimes, including hacks and scams.

“Our bipartisan bill will equip us with the data we need to go after criminals and provide more support to victims of cybercrime,” he said.

Schatz introduced the bill alongside Sens. Thom Tillis, John Cornyn, and Richard Blumenthal.

Another cybercrime mitigation bill circulating in Congress aims to require critical infrastructure owners, cybersecurity incident response firms and federal contractors to report cyber intrusions to the Department of Homeland Security within 24 hours.

A separate bill called the International Cybercrime Prevention Act would authorize law enforcers to seize funds generated from the sale of spyware, as well as equipment used for hacking campaigns and ransomware attacks.