Senator Hassan Applauds Senate Passage of Bipartisan MAIN STREET Cybersecurity Act

WASHINGTON – Senator Maggie Hassan today applauded the Senate’s unanimous passage of the bipartisan Making Available Information Now to Strengthen Trust and Resilience and Enhance Enterprise Technology (MAIN STREET) Cybersecurity Act. The legislation, which Senator Hassan cosponsored, will help to provide a consistent set of resources for small businesses to best protect their digital assets from cybersecurity threats.

“Small businesses are the foundation of our economic success in communities across New Hampshire and America,” Senator Hassan said. “The recent Equifax breach is the latest evidence of the cyber threats that businesses face, and we must do more to provide small businesses with the resources and tools they need to protect against these types of attacks. The MAIN STREET Cybersecurity Act is a critical step toward reaching that goal, and I look forward to seeing this legislation signed into law.”

In 2014, the Senate unanimously passed the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014, which codified the industry-led process for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, a comprehensive voluntary guide for organizations and businesses to better manage and reduce cybersecurity risks. While this framework continues to play a key role in improving the cyber resilience of the United States, additional coordinated resources may be necessary to improve the ability of small businesses to use it. The MAIN STREET Cybersecurity Act will ensure NIST considers the needs of small businesses as it updates the framework and provide simplified, consistent resources based on the NIST framework specifically for small businesses.

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