Last week we reported that Congress passed four cyber bills -incremental measures that had broad bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress. The House and the Senate then exceeded expectations and attached a fifth cyber bill to the omnibus government spending law, which passed the House on Thursday night, followed by the Senate on Saturday.
S. 1353 The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act – The House and the Senate tacitly attached the bill to the omnibus government spending law late Thursday night. The Rockefeller-Thune bill formally codify’s NIST’s role in cybersecurity and the development of the voluntary Cybersecurity Framework. Having been created by an executive order, the framework could have been easily wiped away by a future administration but with the approval of the spending law, S 1353 ensures the frameworks continuation.