Cybersecurity Bill Closer to Law

The White House is the most powerful address on the planet, and could soon be the most powerful in cyberspace as well.

A House of Representatives vote Tuesday paved the way for creation of stiffer cybersecurity requirements for the federal government and would establish a permanent cybersecurity office within the White House, according to Information Week.

Rep. Jim Langevin, a Democrat from Rhode Island, and Dianne Watson, a Democrat from California, proposed the measures as part of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. The House bill must be reconciled with the Senate version, though it's likely the cypersecurity provisions will make it into the final version, which means federal agencies would have tougher security measures for acquisition, budgeting, and securing their IT systems.

Federal Computer Week magazine quotes the bill's discussion of the proposed permanent National Office for Cyberspace and Office of the Federal Chief Technology Officer, which would require the director to be confirmed by the Senate.

“The Office shall serve as the principal office for coordinating issues relating to achieving an assured, reliable, secure and survivable information infrastructure and related capabilities for the Federal Government,” the amendment reads.

Critics fear that the proposed position would not get the budgetary clout needed to adequately reform the Federal Information Security Management Act, signed in 2002.