The View from Washington: CISA Security Bill Passes Senate

Scott Talbott
October 28, 2015 – Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA). CISA helps our member companies defend against cyber-attacks by providing legal protection for voluntarily sharing information about cyber threats. I’d like to echo ETA’s support for this bill which protects privacy and civil liberties while strengthening security and resilience against cyber-attacks.

ETA works diligently to represent the payments industry in DC.  The recent ETA Fly-in focused on CISA and we sent a letter to Congress detailing the detriments of two proposed CISA amendments. Our voice was heard – those amendments were voted down, while CISA was passed. We urge the House and Senate to quickly reconcile minor differences between the protective cyber-security bills they have each passed, and to send a bill to the President.

ETA’s mission is to advance payments technology and security. We have programs that address the whole industry: We ensure that our member companies have access to the most up-to-date intelligence through our exclusive white papers. We curate the best educational programs through ETA policy days, ETA-U and on-line and in-person trainings. And, we offer the ETA CPP credential, a standard that sets payments providers apart in the field, certifying their professional excellence. November 1 is the deadline to register for the next ETA CPP exam and the next opportunity is not until June 2016.

ETA is also working globally to advance the payments industry. ETA recently partnered with the FIDO Alliance to advance the deployment of enhanced authentication. Through our collaboration with the FIDO Alliance, we will jointly work to advance deployment of innovative new security technology to counter the growing threat of cybercrime. Additionally, ETA recently joined the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Payments Working Group to help streamline the online “check-out” process and make payments easier and more secure on the Web.

Across the payments spectrum and in every industry niche, ETA represents Electronic Transactions with a unified commitment to advancing our members’ business interests. We encourage all our members to continue to engage, though our professional development offerings and through our advocacy opportunities. As we’ve see through the Senate passage of CISA, when we speak together as the Voice of Payments ®, we get things done.

About ETA
The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) is the global trade association representing more than 500 payments and technology companies. ETA members make commerce possible by processing more than $5 trillion in purchases in the U.S. and deploying payments innovations to merchants and consumers.