All News

FISMA update grabs bipartisan support in House

The House of Representatives is expected to take up several cybersecurity bills next week, one of which is aimed at updating the Federal Information Security Ma...

Federal News Network Staff

April 20, 2012 8:54 pm

< a min read

The House of Representatives is expected to take up several cybersecurity bills next week aimed at updating the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). The FISMA Act of 2012 would establish a stronger oversight mechanism to monitor cybersecurity threats and conduct regular threat assessments.

The bill has bipartisan support from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who are both members of the Oversight committee that will take up the bill.

“Congress understands that some of our nation’s greatest security threats come from cyber attacks,” Issa said. “FISMA has become a compliance activity, even at times when compliance appeared to take precedence over security. This bill provides necessary enhancements and helps arm government to meet — and overcome — cyber attacks.”

Cybersecurity experts say the federal government is a decade behind in protecting its networks.

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily Cybersecurity Update. For more cybersecurity news, click here.