On the recordApril 16, 2013
Cybersecurity threats represent one of the most serious national security and economic challenges we face in our Nation. Whether it's criminal hackers, organized crime, terrorist networks, or nation- states, our Nation is under siege from dangerous cybersecurity threats that grow daily in frequency and sophistication. It is critical that the Federal Government address cybersecurity threats in a manner that keeps pace with our Nation's growing dependence on technology, but current Federal law does not adequately address the nature of today's cybersecurity threats. Since the enactment in 2002 of the Federal Information Security Management Act, or FISMA, it has become a ``check the box'' compliance activity that all too often has little to do with minimizing cyber threats. And yet the Government Accountability Office recently found that security incidents among 24 key agencies increased by 650 percent, or more than six-fold, in the last 5 years. To address the rising challenge posed by cyber threats, Ranking Member Cummings and I introduced last Congress a bill to reauthorize FISMA. That bill was adopted by the House unanimously. Recently, Mr. Cummings and I reintroduced that legislation as H.R. 1163, the Federal Information Security Amendments Act of 2013. The bill was voted out of our committee by unanimous vote on March 20.…
