Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Banking Committee, joined Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) in urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to increase transparency for investors in an age of persistent cybersecurity threats with rising economic costs. The letter presses SEC Chair Gary Gensler to propose rules regarding cybersecurity disclosures and reporting. The senators advised the SEC to require publicly traded companies to disclose whether they have cybersecurity expertise on their boards of directors.
“One effective regulatory approach would be asking public companies to disclose whether a cybersecurity expert is on the board of directors, and if not, why not. We have sponsored bipartisan legislation called the Cybersecurity Disclosure Act to require companies to provide this disclosure to investors. The bill does not tell companies how to deal with cybersecurity threats. How a company chooses to address cybersecurity risks would remain its own decision. Boards of directors would be encouraged to develop approaches that address their own needs. The goal is to encourage directors to play a more effective role in cybersecurity risk oversight,” the senators wrote.
“Public companies and investment managers should pay attention to threats before they are realized. This is a better approach than scrambling to figure out what went wrong after investors have been harmed. America’s economic prosperity is linked to strong cybersecurity defenses in the private sector. The alternative unfortunately puts investors’ hard-earned savings and pensions at risk. We are encouraged that the SEC intends to address cybersecurity threats using a wide variety of tools, from raising the bar on risk management to clarifying when to report a serious breach that has already occurred.”
Senators Cramer and Reed are joined on the letter by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Angus King (I-ME), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).