Supply Chain Security Training and FISMA Overhaul Bills Clear House Committee

Mike Kline (notkalvin)/Getty Images

The committee chair highlighted a need for incident reporting and other requirements for federal contractors.

Invoking cybersecurity threats posed by foreign adversaries, the House Oversight and Reform Committee unanimously approved efforts to create a program for training the government’s contracting officials and to strengthen the effectiveness of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act. 

“Our complex global supply chains span continents, and are continuously targeted by bad actors looking for a backdoor into federal systems,” Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said during a markup session Wednesday. “To properly guard against these attacks, we must systematically equip our federal acquisition officials with the knowledge and tools they need to maximize their unique positions in our cybersecurity defenses.”

The Supply Chain Security Training Act would task the General Services Administration, in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, with creating the training program that would then be implemented through the Office of Management and Budget. 

Lawmakers view it as a natural complement to the FISMA update which would also extend the duration of the Federal Acquisition Security Council. The FASC, an interagency group led by GSA and OMB, has the power to recommend exclusion and removal orders of technology it determines to be too risky. 

Many of the provisions in the bill to update FISMA echo those called for in a May executive order on improving the nation’s cybersecurity, which was issued in response to the breach of government contractor SolarWinds. Suspected Russian hackers penetrated the IT management firm’s operations and used their delivery mechanism to widely distribute a trojanized update to thousands of customers. 

The event has focused government officials on the need to clear up confusion while remediating an attack—some agencies declared it a major incident while others did not, for example—and control the security of agencies’ information technology vendors. 

“The SolarWinds investigation highlighted how critical it is to have clear incident reporting requirements with well defined roles and responsibilities,” Maloney said. “This brings new clarity to these areas which will save valuable response time during an attack. The bill also takes steps to increase supply chain security and transparency by requiring federal contractors to immediately report an incident impacting federal data or information systems.”

Maloney also noted provisions that would require agencies to log events and keep detailed inventories of their systems and related software components.

“With these inventories, we’ll be able to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities faster to better protect the federal government's mission and assets in a crisis, like the discovery of the log4j [vulnerabilities],” she said. “Inventories like this will be game changers.”

Speaking in favor of the Supply Chain Training Act, Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Fla., highlighted the role of the FASC in instituting the training program. 

Federal CISO and current chair of the council Chris DeRusha has said he doesn’t view the FASC as the be-all-end-all for supply chain security. But Franklin said the FISMA bill recognizes a “central role” for the FASC in federal cybersecurity and that the training program “will prepare federal personnel to identify and mitigate security risks throughout the acquisition lifecycle of products and services, including information and communications technology. It “should help our federal agencies avoid purchasing software products vulnerable to malware,” he said. 

Committee ranking member James Comer, R-Ky., speaking in support of the FISMA update, highlighted its codification of the federal chief information security officer’s role in statute as it relates to that of the national cyber director, who would be the point person for communicating with Congress under the legislation.  

That’s one area where similar legislation to update FISMA in the Senate differs, but lawmakers in both chambers have committed to working together to resolve issues and pass the bill. The Senate bill, which doesn’t mention the federal CISO role, cleared committee in October. 

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.