Senate panel to move on cybersecurity bills

Senate Homeland Security Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) introduced two cybersecurity bills that will advance to a vote in the panel. The pair of bills should make it easier for government agencies and private companies to share information about hackers and focus federal efforts towards preventing stopping major hacks, Sen Carper said.

“Cybersecurity is one of our nation’s biggest challenges,” he said. “While our work in this area is far from finished, these bills are an important step in our effort to modernize our nation’s cybersecurity programs and help the public and private sectors work together to tackle cyber threats more effectively in the future.”

The National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center Act would codify an existing cybersecurity center run by the Homeland Security Department and make sure that it operators as a sort of clearinghouse for the issue. The Federal Information Security Modernization Act would reshuffle administrative roles and put more focus on stopping data beaches.