US Passes Law Requiring Better Cybercrime Data Collection

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act, which was proposed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers to improve data collection on cybercrimes. The law requires the Department of Justice and the FBI to compile detailed cybercrime statistics and develop a taxonomy to help contextualize and sort this data. The bipartisan law is also expected to give law enforcement officials and policymakers more tools to combat cybercrime in the country. The bill was passed by the U.S. Senate in December 2021 and by the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2022. “By collecting data on how often, when and where cyberattacks are happening, our bipartisan bill will better protect people in Hawaii from online crimes like those against our transit and water systems in Honolulu, help us support victims of online crimes, and give us more tools to go after the criminals who perpetrate them,” says Sen. Brian Schatz, D-HI, who authored the legislation.