WASHINGTON, DC—February 13, 2017— The Coalition for Responsible Cybersecurity, together with BSA | The Software Alliance, applauds Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Congressmen Jim Langevin (D-RI), Michael McCaul (R-TX), John Ratcliffe (R-TX), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), and Will Hurd (R-TX), for their letters (found here and here) to National Security Advisor Michael Flynn urging the Trump Administration to renegotiate provisions of the Wassenaar Arrangement that threaten to undermine US cybersecurity. The Wassenaar Arrangement is a 41-country international export control agreement. The Congressmen flagged concerns about the 2013 addition of “intrusion software” controls to the Wassenaar Arrangement’s list of dual use technologies that members must subject to export controls. While well intentioned, the provisions were imprecisely drafted and would subject core defensive technologies to onerous licensing requirements that would advantage our adversaries by grinding much-needed cybersecurity activity to a halt.  These concerns are shared worldwide by governments, industry, academia, and the cybersecurity research community.

The Coalition and BSA urge the Trump Administration to use the 2017 Wassenaar Arrangement negotiations to achieve meaningful changes to the controls on “intrusion software,” including by revising the overbroad definition of “intrusion software,” and by limiting the controls on related software, hardware, technology, and information sharing.  The Coalition and BSA also ask the Trump Administration to refrain from implementing the controls on intrusion software until these core defects in the Wassenaar Arrangements are resolved.

The Coalition and BSA urge the Trump Administration to engage broadly with industry, academia, and researches in crafting meaningful changes to the controls on “intrusion software,” take seriously the concerns raised in these letters, and commit to renegotiating the flawed provisions to ensure that US cybersecurity is not put at risk.

The Coalition for Responsible Cybersecurity represents a broad cross-section of cybersecurity companies, including Symantec, Ionic Security, Intel, Microsoft, FireEye, Raytheon, Philips, and others.

BSA | The Software Alliance is an association of the world’s leading software companies that promotes policies that foster innovation, growth, security, and a competitive marketplace.

Contacts

Steptoe & Johnson LLPAlan Cohn, 202-429-6283 and Meredith Rathbone, 202-429-6237[email protected], [email protected]