Congressmen John Ratcliffe (R-Calif.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Monday said they will introduce a bill this week that codifies a key Department of Homeland Security program that helps protect federal civilian information networks.
The Advancing Cybersecurity Diagnostics and Mitigation Act is identical to a Senate bill introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) in July. The Senate bill, S. 2318, has been referred to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Ratcliffe and Khanna said the bill also seeks to expand the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) capabilities to additional agencies at the federal, state and local levels.
“As we saw just recently in a ransomware attack on Stafford County in my home state of New Hampshire, cyberattacks pose a real and growing threat to our national security, from our local nursing homes to our federal agencies,” Hassan said in a statement. “I’m pleased that the House of Representatives is introducing their version of this critical bill, and I look forward to continuing to work on a bipartisan basis across the House and Senate to move this bill forward. With constantly evolving threats, it’s critical that the Department of Homeland Security enhances its efforts to monitor and address cyber security vulnerabilities as they arise, and importantly, ensures that these resources are available to state and local governments across the country.”
The legislation also requires DHS to make CDM capabilities available and develop policies for reporting cyber risks and incidents based upon data collected under the program. It also directs DHS develop a strategy to ensure the program adjusts to the current cyber threat environment.