Yesterday was the first day of the 115th
Congress. As expected there were a large number of bills (274) introduced in
the House and a few (20) in the Senate. Many of these bills are repeats from
previous sessions of congress and will continue to see little or no action. Of
those introduced yesterday, three may be of specific interest to readers of
this blog:
HR 54
To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct a study on the
feasibility of establishing a Civilian Cyber Defense National Resource in the
Department of Homeland Security. Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]
HR 59
To enhance the security of chemical facilities and for other purposes. Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]
HR 150
To direct the Attorney General to create a special reward program for
individuals providing information leading to the apprehension and conviction of
persons committing offenses under section 1030 of title 18, United States Code,
and for other purposes. Rep.
Green, Al [D-TX-9]
I suspect that HR 54 will bear some semblance to HR
60 introduced (and died) in the 114th Congress. Since the
current title contains no reference to ‘National Guard’, it would seem that Ms.
Lee may have changed her mind about the military nature of the organization.
HR 59 will also probably bear some resemblance to HR
54 from the last session in that it will be an essential re-write of the
current CFATS program. It will be interesting to see if it includes a cleaned-up
version of the hacking
provisions of the earlier bill.
HR 150 is almost certainly not a control system security
bill, but any bill that ‘enhances’ enforcement of the cyber fraud provisions of
the US Code (§
1030)is certain to effect (unintentionally if nothing else)
anyone in the cybersecurity research community, especially those that are not
meticulous supporters of coordinated disclosure.
As always future coverage of these bills in this blog will
depend on what the actual wording of the bill includes.
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