Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) on Tuesday introduced two bills designed to strengthen cyber and information security within the federal government, one that would codify the existing cyber security and communications operations center at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the other to update existing information security direction.
Both bills, which are co-sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the ranking member on the committee, will be marked up during a committee hearing on Wednesday morning.
The National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) Act of 2014 would codify the 24 x 7 cyber watch center that DHS current operates. The bill calls for NCCIC to serve as the federal civilian information sharing portal for the cyber security, and authorizes the center to share cyber information with the private sector.
The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 would update the 12-year old Federal Information Security Act of 2002 and better delineate roles and responsibilities of the White House Office of Management and Budget and DHS. The proposed bill would also move federal agencies away from paperwork processes toward real-time automated security, putting greater management and oversight attention on data breaches.
“Codifying the Department of Homeland Security’s existing cyber security operations center is critical to supporting the department’s overall cyber mission and will ensure that the private sector, as well as federal, state and local entities, has improved certainty and clarity in partnering with the department,” Carper said in a statement.