Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson offered some encouraging news to cybersecurity stakeholders in comments at the Reuters Cybersecurity Summit, noting that he believes that Congress is likely to agree on cybersecurity legislation this summer. While he did not comment on any of the specific bills … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Senate Information Sharing Legislation Last week, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) issued a statement noting their progress on a draft cybersecurity information sharing bill that they have been working on since last year. In the statement, they noted that they have reached an agreement … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity U.S. Department of Defense Network Breach Reporting Regulations The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is expected to release draft regulations this summer that would require defense contractors to report network and information system penetrations within a specified amount of time. As part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, DOD was … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation At a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) hearing last week, Ranking Member Tom Coburn (R-OK) announced that the committee is working on legislation that will give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to hire more cybersecurity professionals. Ranking Member Coburn stated that the committee will … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Tuesday, March 11: The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing to consider the nomination of Navy Vice Admiral Michael S. Rogers to be Admiral and Director of the National Security Agency, Chief of the Central Security Services, and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command. In addition, the Committee will … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Tuesday, March 4: The House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology and Subcommittee on Oversight will host a joint hearing titled “Can Technology Protect Americans from International Cybercriminals?” Dr. Charles Romine, Director of the Information Technology Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will be a … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Tuesday, February 25: The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled “Reauthorizing TRIA (Terrorism Risk Insurance Act): The State of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Market, Part II.” Thursday, February 27: The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing to examine the U.S. Strategic Command and … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Data Breach Issues Last week, three Congressional Committees – the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee – held hearings that explored the recent data breaches at Target and Neiman Marcus that compromised the financial data for millions of customers. Officials from … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Data Breach This week, several Congressional Committees will hold a number of hearings focused on the recent data breaches at Target, Neiman Marcus and other large companies that compromised the financial information of millions of customers. The hearings will focus on how to prevent future data breaches and the appropriate course of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies Committee plans to move forward on its cybersecurity bill this week, with plans to follow-up in full committee in the near future. H.R. 3696, the “National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2013” is a bipartisan bill designed … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Data Security Hearing After hackers were able to access the credit and debit card data of nearly 40 million Target customers last month, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mark Warner (D-VA) sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee calling for Congressional … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, the House Homeland Security Committee approved two cybersecurity bills by a voice vote – the Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Advancement Act of 2013 (H.R. 2952) and the Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act (H.R. 3107). It is unclear how quickly these bills will be considered on the House floor, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announced that she plans to introduce legislation soon that will offer tax credits to businesses that make investments in cybersecurity protections. Under her proposal, businesses would be able to claim a credit worth up to 30 percent of the costs of investment in new, qualified cyber defenses. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) called on the Senate Intelligence Committee to pass a cybersecurity information sharing bill so that it could eventually be conferenced with his bill that passed the House in April – the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (H.R. 624). Privacy and national … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies marked up two cybersecurity bills – the Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Advancement (CIRDA) Act of 2013 (H.R. 2952) and the Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act (H.R. 3107). The subcommittee passed both bills by voice vote and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Cybersecurity Legislation Although the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee has already completed its work on a cybersecurity bill this Congress, many stakeholders are waiting to see what the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is planning for its cybersecurity legislation. At a hearing last week, Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) laid … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Cybersecurity Legislation The House Homeland Security Committee is currently circulating a revised draft of the National Cybersecurity and Critical Protection Act (NCCIP), the committee’s cybersecurity legislation. The bill would codify many of the current cybersecurity roles of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation Last week, Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-WV) and Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD) introduced the Cybersecurity Act of 2013 (S. 1353) and also held a hearing related to the legislation. The bill would give authority to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is expected to mark up a bipartisan cybersecurity bill before the end of this month. A draft of the bill is currently being circulated and contains provisions that would codify the role of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to continue … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is expected to mark up a bipartisan cybersecurity bill drafted by Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD) by the end of this month. The bill will be focused on defining industry standards for critical infrastructure and strengthening cybersecurity … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation In the Senate, the committees with jurisdiction over cybersecurity issues continue to work on drafting legislation that will be introduced in the coming weeks, including the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and the Senate Intelligence Committee. Previous efforts to pass cybersecurity … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation The House Homeland Security Committee will introduce a new piece of cybersecurity legislation that would codify the cyber roles and responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as address other key aspects of cybersecurity. The committee has been working with stakeholders for several weeks on its draft … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity House Homeland Security Committee Legislation According to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies is planning to mark up legislation on Thursday, June 13 that would codify the cyber roles and responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Homeland Security Committee Legislation The House Homeland Security Committee is drafting legislation that will codify the cybersecurity roles and responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as well as address other key aspects of cyber. This is the last of the cyber bills the House is expected to move through the … Continue Reading
