Upgrading Cybersecurity Law

Abstract

The United States has long lacked a cohesive legal system to address the increasingly urgent issues surrounding cybersecurity. The nation relied on laws that mainly focused on privacy, identity theft, data security, hacking and other issues, but failed to directly address the most pressing cybersecurity challenges. The laws often lacked precision and efficacy. Fortunately, this has begun to change. In the early 2020s, U.S. lawmakers and regulators finally started to get serious about cybersecurity, and have begun to develop legal rules that address modern cybersecurity challenges. This is the third in a series of articles evaluating U.S. cybersecurity law. The first article defined the field, and the second suggested general principles for effective laws. This article assesses 10 recent upgrades and explains how they contribute to a cohesive cybersecurity legal system. The Article then evaluates the remaining gaps, and suggests a path forward.