Legislation that would enhance agency cybersecurity efforts and boost research into protecting critical systems from cyber attack passed out of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Tuesday.
The Cybersecurity Act of 2013 would task the National Institutes of Standards and Technology with developing a set of voluntary standards and guidelines to reduce cyber attacks on critical infrastructure.
The legislation would also direct the Office of Science and Technology at the White House with developing a cybersecurity research plan that would include guidelines on how to test and build new software and how to improve consumer education on cybersecurity.
Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., committee chairman, said the legislation was a bipartisan effort that should be passed by the Senate.
“Now that the Commerce Committee has passed its bill, we’ve got to build on today’s momentum and get it to the floor,” Rockefeller said in a news release.
