U.S. Senate Considers Mandating 24-Hour Reporting Requirement for Ransom Payments
On September 28, 2021, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released a draft bill that would, among other things, require nearly...
House Passes Bill to Rotate Cyber Personal Into and Among Government Agencies
The House of Representatives has passed the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act – which would allow skilled cybersecurity techs to work for the...
Cyber Incident Reporting Bills May Merge
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) is considering mixing aspects of his Cyber Incident Notification Act with related proposals in the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act,...
CISA Issues Preliminary Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Goals and Objectives for Critical Infrastructure Control Systems
On September 22, 2021, as required by President Biden’s National Security Memorandum of July 28, 2021, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued preliminary cross-sector cybersecurity performance goals and objectives for critical infrastructure control systems. CISA developed these goals and objectives—which are currently voluntary—in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology after an […]
Consumer Privacy Hearing Focuses on Expanding FTC Resources, Creating Federal Privacy Law
On September 29, 2021, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing entitled “Protecting Consumer Privacy.” The hearing centered on strengthening consumer privacy rights, including by increasing the FTC’s resources and creating a comprehensive federal privacy law. To explore these issues, the Committee invited David Vladeck, Professor and Faculty Director of the […]
Congress Asks FBI to Explain Withholding Decryption Key from Kaseya Victims
Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and James Comer (R-KY) – chair and ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform – have called...
Senate Committee Releases Cyber Incident Reporting Bill
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Gary Peters (D-MI) and Ranking Member Rob Portman (R-OH) have released a bill requiring critical infrastructure...
Defense Bill Includes More Power for CISA
Although the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is part of DHS rather than DoD, the NDAA recently passed by the House includes multiple provisions related to CISA, including the authority to compel certain kinds of private companies to report cyber attacks to them. The Senate version of the NDAA is still in the works, but […]
Senators Question State Department on Response to Huawei
Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Mike Gallagher (R-WI) have asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to outline the department’s plans to respond to the still-growing operations of sanctioned Chinese telecom giant Huawei. Their concerns include what efforts the State Department has taken to prevent other governments from adopting Huawei technologies, and whether alternatives can be […]
Congressional Committees Drafting Cyber Breach Reporting Mandates
There is growing pressure to create a federal breach reporting requirement, both from within Congress and at the urging of the White House. Lawmakers...