Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Lobbying Spending Mounts as Privacy, Security Laws Take Shape

Cybersecurity companies are spending millions of dollars on lobbying efforts in Washington, seeking to influence policy makers as they reshape privacy and security laws.

As the cybersecurity industry has grown, these companies have increasingly sought to get time with lawmakers and help shape bills and issues in their early stages, including standards for the security of the Internet of Things, a potential federal privacy law and the rollout of 5G networks. Government initiatives such as defense programs also have grown in prominence for cybersecurity providers, which seek to win lucrative contracts with the Pentagon and other agencies.

The collective lobbying spending of 12 large publicly traded cybersecurity firms more than tripled to $3.94 million in 2019 from $1.21 million in 2015, according to an analysis by WSJ Pro Cybersecurity of federal disclosures collated by the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics.