The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee has advanced a bill that could fuel a rally in the cybersecurity stocks. The bill will make it much easier for companies to share cyber-breached data with the government to help thwart future attacks.
The Bill
Previously, reporting such data was a double-edged sword. On one side, the company would be helping to protect its customers and their personal data; on the other, the government is gaining access to the private information of millions of people. The latter has opened up the debate about civil liberty lawsuits for handing over private information to the government.
This new bill aims to eliminate one side of that sword. It offers corporations protection from civil liberty lawsuits if they share private information with the government for the purpose of stopping cybersecurity attacks, thus making the government liable for invasion of privacy and civil liberties.
This bill has reportedly been in the works for five years, as it kept getting stalled for fear of more government surveillance if they were to be afforded this kind of information.
Bill's Catalysts
The lengths that the government has gone in terms of surveillance has been made public knowledge famously by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden in 2013, when he described to what lengths the government has gone and the capabilities that they have.
Highlighted below is the only cybersecurity ETF on the market that could continue its inflows of money as the fight against the threats expand.
PureFunds ISE Cyber Security
The PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF HACK consists of 30 companies that focus on infrastructure, software and hardware, as well as firms that offer consulting and monitoring of cyber risks.
The top individual holdings include:
- Cyberark Software Ltd CYBR at 5.3 percent
- Infoblox Inc BLOX with a 5.2 percent holding
- FireEye Inc FEYE coming in at 5.1 percent
HACK is up 10 percent since its inception in November 2014 and up 7 percent over the last two months. The ETF has an expense ratio of 0.75 percent.
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