Senate lawmakers have passed by unanimous consent a long-awaited bill to rename the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity office – the National Protection and Programs Directorate – to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA.
Advocates of the name change have argued that NPPD’s non-descriptive bureaucratic name made it difficult to identify the office as the place to go for cybersecurity assistance, a central focus of the program.
The legislation also gives the office purview over “DHS’s responsibilities concerning chemical facilities antiterrorism standards.”
The House approved a similar bill in December; the Senate version now goes to a conference committee to iron out differences in the language of the bills.