Mary-Louise Hoffman
A cross-section of U.S. cybersecurity firms has set up a coalition to stop the enactment of a new Commerce Department rule governing the overseas sale of some information technology security products.
The Coalition for Responsible Cybersecurity said Tuesday it aims to educate the U.S. government on how the department’s proposed cybersecurity technology export policy could harm industry.
The group was formed by executives from FireEye, Symantec, Global Velocity, Ionic Security, Synack and WhiteHat.
Cheri McGuire, vice president of global government affairs and cybersecurity policy at Symantec, said she believes the policy would hamper research, innovation and data sharing efforts.
The Commerce Department seeks to prevent companies from exporting intrusion software and network surveillance products that the agency believes hackers can use to access private networks.
“The rule treats these tools as though they were weapons, but in fact they are absolutely essential for every company and government that has been targeted by attackers,” said Ron Bushar, global director for security program services at FireEye’s Mandiant subsidiary.
Bushar added the agency wants to require cybersecurity professionals to obtain a license before they perform a defensive test for an enterprise customer.
He believes the licensing process would delay efforts to protect a business against cyber threats.
