National security officials to brief House members on cybersecurity

Top national security officials will participate in a briefing for House members on cybersecurity April 16. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, FBI Director Robert Mueller and National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander are slated to attend the briefing, which comes as the House is in the midst of voting on a package of cybersecurity-focused bills this week, according to a House aide.

It's unclear whether the administration officials will brief House members on information regarding the bombings that ripped through the Boston Marathon on April 15. The House will begin consideration of anchor bill in the cybersecurity legislative package, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), on April 17. CISPA is designed to make it easier for industry and the government to share data about malicious source code and other cyber threats with one another in real time so firms can thwart cyberattacks. The bill has drawn criticism from privacy and civil liberties advocates, as well as the White House. They argue that it does not include sufficient protections to safeguard people's personal information online and prevent that data from being shared with the military.