House Passes Bills On Cybersecurity R&D

The House of Representatives has passed two bills reauthorizing cybersecurity research funding and proposing strategic plans for federal investment. One, H.R. 2096, would require each federal agency that supports cybersecurity research to create a strategic plan for its R&D portfolio. It would also require the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) to bring federal agencies together to explore collaborative projects. The bill would reauthorize several NSF cybersecurity grant programs through 2014 and continue support for the successful Scholarship for Service program, which encourages computer science majors to work for the federal government. The measure would also require the National Institute of Standards & Technology to develop standards for securing government computer systems. The second bill, H.R. 3834, would mandate a strategic plan for the nation’s high-performance computing efforts and an extension of an OSTP task force that coordinates programs among agencies. “As our reliance on information technology expands, so do our vulnerabilities,” says Rep. Ralph M. Hall (R-Texas), chairman of the Committee on Science, Space & Technology. The Senate has not yet taken up the bills.