A mix of federal cybersecurity regulations hurts security and competition, companies tell the White House

The White House on Tuesday publicly shared feedback it has received on how best to untangle federal cybersecurity regulations as congressional appetite grows for the administration to address the long-standing problem.

“It was overwhelmingly clear that respondents felt there was a lack of harmonization and reciprocity of cybersecurity regulations, which was a challenge to both cybersecurity performance and business competitiveness,” national cybersecurity director Harry Coker wrote in a blog post. “This affected businesses of all sectors and sizes.”

The Office of the National Cybersecurity Director (ONCD) said it received 86 “unique” responses – including from 11 of 16 critical infrastructure sectors – to a request for information made in August last year.

The review was released a day before the Senate Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing on the inconsistent digital regulations facing businesses and other organizations, with witnesses from ONCD and the Government Accountability Office scheduled to testify.

Recorded Future News first reported last week that panel Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) is circulating legislation that would require ONCD to lead an interagency commission that would examine overlapping cybersecurity regulations issued across the federal government.

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