Government flying partially blind to threats after key cyber law expires

A key law that helps the federal government guard against cyber threats to U.S. critical systems expired as the government shut down Wednesday, partially blinding Washington to attacks from adversaries that are only growing more sophisticated and persistent.

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act has been a pillar of the nation’s cyber defenses since it was signed into law in 2015, providing legal protections for organizations to share cyber intelligence with the federal government and each other.

… “It’s really providing those indicators that can give the government and industry the wherewithal to see broader patterns if something is more strategically afoot,” said Frank Cilluffo, director of Auburn University’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security.