Schatz-Risch Small Business Cybersecurity Legislation Advances In The Senate

WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee passed the Making Available Information Now to Strengthen Trust and Resilience and Enhance Enterprise Technology (MAIN STREET) Cybersecurity Act, legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Techhnology, Innovation, and the Internet, and James Risch (R-Idaho), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. The MAIN STREET Cybersecurity Act will provide a consistent set of resources for small businesses to best protect their digital assets from cybersecurity threats.

“The committee’s vote brings small businesses one step closer to getting the resources they need to guard against cyberattacks,” said Senator Schatz. “I look forward to bringing this bill to a full vote in the Senate, knowing that helping small businesses is something we can all support.”

“More than half of small businesses that suffer a cyber-attack go out of business within six months,” said Senator Risch. “It’s incredibly important to business owners, their employees and customers, and our nation’s economy that we address this head on. I’m grateful to the Committee for making this bill a priority.”

The MAIN STREET Cybersecurity Act also gained the support of the National Restaurant Association, one of the largest foodservice trade associations in the world, and the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), a leading security management association.

“The resources developed by NIST per the MAIN STREET Act will help many more small and medium-sized businesses access and adopt the Framework, with the hope of leading to better management of cybersecurity risks.  The National Restaurant Association thanks Senators Schatz and Risch for their foresight and leadership on this issue, and urge other Committee members’ support of the MAIN STREET Cybersecurity Act,” said Cicely Simpson, Executive Vice President of the National Restaurant Association.

“This legislation emphasizes years of cooperative efforts by industry and government to produce risk management tools that support the cybersecurity needs of these small to medium businesses," said Peter J. O'Neil, CEO of ASIS International.

Cosponsors of the MAIN STREET Cybersecurity Act include U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.).

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