Senators Want to Give DHS New CYBERCOM-Like Powers to Thwart Civilian Agency Hacks

Senators from both parties are pushing to position the Department of Homeland Security as the US Cyber Command of the civilian government, after many agencies refused to fall into line on information security in 2014. Following the largest known hack of US federal employee information, a bipartisan group of six lawmakers believes there is now enough momentum to grant DHS power over government networks.

Just as CYBERCOM monitors and blocks threats to the military network, DHS, under proposed legislation, would scan for and repel attacks against the dot-gov domain. In the event of a suspected threat, the new 2015 Federal Information Security Management Reform Act lets DHS direct agencies "to take any lawful action with respect to the operation of the information system" at risk. IT systems subject to partial override, during emergencies, would include private-sector networks that handle government information. The bill also would task DHS with "conducting targeted risk assessments and operational evaluations" of agency and contractor systems, including vulnerability scans."