Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Blog

On September 12, 2022, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) released a Request for Information (“RFI”) seeking public input regarding the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (“CIRCIA”). The public comment period will close on November 14th, 2022. The RFI provides a “non-exhaustive” list of topics on which CISA seeks public input, including:

• Definitions and criteria of various terms, such as “covered entity,” “covered cyber incident,” “substantial cyber incident,” “ransom payment,” “ransom attack,” “supply chain compromise” and “reasonable belief;”
• Content of reports on covered cyber incidents and the submission process (e.g., how entities should submit reports, report timing requirements, and which federal entities should receive reports;
• Any conflict with existing or proposed federal or state cyber incident reporting requirements;
• The expected time and costs associated with reporting requirements; and
• Common best practices governing the sharing of information related to security vulnerabilities in the U.S. and internationally.

In March 2022, President Biden signed CIRCIA into law. CIRCIA creates legal protections and provides guidance to companies that operate in critical infrastructure sectors, including a requirement to report cyber incidents within 72 hours, and report ransom payments within 24 hours. The CISA website features more information about the law, the RFI, and a list of public listening sessions with CISA to provide input.