Senate passes bill to combat cyber attacks after repeated hacks of federal systems

“Cybersecurity is one of our nation’s biggest challenges,” said Chairman Carper. “Recently, several federal agencies, from the Postal Service to the Office of Personnel Management to the State Department to the White House have been hit with serious cyber attacks.  It is more than clear that the federal government needs to address this 21st century threat with a 21st century response. This bill will modernize our outdated federal network security laws, provide the tools and authorities needed to improve security at our federal agencies, and increase transparency and accountability for data breaches at federal agencies. On top of that, it allows taxpayer dollars to be better spent on improving network security by reducing unnecessary and burdensome paper-based reporting.  But Senate passage of this bill only gets us part of the way there. We now need our colleagues in the House to bring this critical bill across the finish line and to the President’s desk. With the clock ticking on the 113th Congress, we can’t afford to wait. Our nation’s cybersecurity is counting on it.”

“For too long, the federal government has struggled with poor cybersecurity practices, which puts the American people’s sensitive information at risk,” said Dr. Coburn.  “This bipartisan reform bill is a small but significant step to address the problem.  It requires agencies to be accountable to Congress and the public for data breaches and other incidents to protect the public’s information.”