Congress Strengthens Homeland Security's Cyber Role with FISMA Reform, Other Bills

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Evan Vucci/AP

A 2002 computer protection law finally gets an upgrade.

Lawmakers have sent a raft of cyber legislation to President Barack Obama's desk, breaking through a six-year logjam. No doubt congressional action was spurred on by escalating intrusions into government and contractor networks. 

In a move backed by the White House, but not necessarily all Pentagon hawks, each of the measures positions the Department of Homeland Security as head of governmentwide cyber operations.

Since 2002 – when only purported Nigerian royalty sent malicious emails – agencies have had to compile an annual booklet of checklists self-certifying systems are accounted for and secure. Various proposals to mandate real-time monitoring have had strong bipartisan support -- but not much urgency.

Then came disclosures about massive Chinese cyberspying, the Target breach and revelations of sophisticated penetrations at the departments of Energy and State, the Office of Personnel Management and the White House, just to name a few.

Now, Congress has cleared an update to the more than decade-old Federal Information Security Management Act, or FISMA.

The bill mandates “automated security tools to continuously diagnose and improve security." And it deputizes DHS to oversee governmentwide cybersecurity operations.  

A 2003 presidential directive designated DHS the "focal point" for cyber, but a lack of formal power interfered with the assignment. FISMA 2.0 cements into law recent executive actions that had DHS aiding agencies and the White House creating cyber policy. The legislation does not cover military and intelligence community systems.

“There’s strong authority within the Department of Homeland Security to assist agencies operationally in defense and, to me, that’s the most critical point of this – a unified front and defense across all agencies,” former Agriculture Department Chief Information Officer Chris Smith told Nextgov.

What the bill does not do is prescribe specific network surveillance equipment.

Currently, DHS is managing a $6 billion “Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation” contract from which agencies choose various sensors and consulting services a la carte. In their bill, lawmakers recognize “that the selection of specific technical hardware and software information security solutions should be left to individual agencies from among commercially developed products.”

Securing that multiyear contract for automated monitoring technology is one feat that demonstrates Homeland Security’s readiness to take center stage, said Smith, who served as USDA CIO from January 2008 to April 2012.

“This takes it to the next level in terms of continuous monitoring -- continuous diagnostics and mitigation -- which is what we need because the threat is ever-changing,” he said.

The clarity and adaptability of the measure provides a path for agency CIOs to move forward in lockstep, said Smith, now vice president for technology at AT&T Government Solutions.

“Five years ago, there were a lot of agencies that I had to coordinate with -- one of them being DHS -- to make sure that we were building out our architecture and operational capabilities,” he said.

Other cyber-related legislation passed this week includes an effort to fast-track cyber hiring at DHS, which has struggled to compete with private sector and military pay packages. The new bill empowers DHS to set rates of basic pay for new recruits and provide additional compensation, benefits and other sweeteners. Defense Department components, including the National Security Agency, have been authorized to offer the same incentives for years.  

But some security analysts note DHS has misused cyber workforce perks in the past. In 2010, then-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said her department had been granted regulatory direct-hire authority to add 1,000 new cyber professionals over three years. However, department information technology managers manipulated that flexibility to hire people without cyber skills for regular IT roles.

In another nod to DHS' place at the national security table, Congress approved legislation that will permanently place the existing 24-hour National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center at the department. The facility shares intelligence on cyber threats across the public and private sectors.

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement on Thursday, “On behalf of the men and women of this department, I appreciate the bipartisan support by Congress for our cybersecurity mission.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.