In the wake of high profile cyber-attacks targeting retailers and banks, pressure is on Congress to pass legislation addressing this problem before the next big cyber-attack occurs. Kathleen Rice, Mary Bono and Robert Ehrich of FaegreBD Consulting jointly authored an article in Law360 on the topic of cybersecurity.

The trio said that it's imperative that legislation is introduced this year, as the process would likely have to begin again with a new Congress in 2015. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, echoed that sentiment. "We're in this last window. If we don't get this bill done in the lame duck this year, the whole process starts over and I guarantee you it will take another two years to get this done," he said.

Rice, Bono and Ehrich pointed out that although many sectors are already beefing up their readiness for a cyber-attack, they stressed that meaningful legislation is still needed, if not to prevent a catastrophic cyber-attack, to at least have the pieces in place to react to such an event. They pointed out that reactive legislation passed in the moment of crisis often can miss its mark.

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