Overview

Title

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency a Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative, and for other purposes.

ELI5 AI

The bill wants to make a new team that helps share information and work together to stop bad things happening on computers and the internet. This team will include people from the government and private companies, and they will make plans to keep everything safe and solve problems quickly when something goes wrong.

Summary AI

H.R. 9768 proposes changes to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to create a Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. This new program aims to improve partnerships between the government and private sector to enhance cybersecurity operations and share important cyber threat information. It includes developing plans for responding to cyber threats, creating a council to provide advice, and ensuring the protection and confidential handling of shared information. The bill also outlines the Collaborative's structure, partner selection processes, and evaluation metrics.

Published

2024-09-24
Congress: 118
Session: 2
Chamber: HOUSE
Status: Introduced in House
Date: 2024-09-24
Package ID: BILLS-118hr9768ih

Keywords AI

joint cyber defense collaborative cybersecurity homeland security act of 2002 cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency public-private partnerships cyber threat information sharing information security advisory council partner selection process foreign entity involvement

Sources

Bill Statistics

Size

Sections:
2
Words:
3,145
Pages:
16
Sentences:
57

Language

Nouns: 939
Verbs: 243
Adjectives: 211
Adverbs: 37
Numbers: 98
Entities: 178

Complexity

Average Token Length:
4.72
Average Sentence Length:
55.18
Token Entropy:
5.22
Readability (ARI):
31.90

AnalysisAI

General Summary of the Bill

The proposed legislation, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 9768, seeks to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to create a new entity within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). This entity, known as the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC), aims to bolster cybersecurity through enhanced partnerships between the public and private sectors. The initiative replaces the previous Joint Cyber Planning Office and establishes a framework for coordinated cyber defense operations, information sharing, and operational collaboration across critical infrastructure sectors.

The bill outlines the primary functions of the JCDC, the establishment of a governing charter, and the creation of an advisory council to guide its initiatives. It calls for the development of strategies and procedures to ensure efficient information exchange while maintaining security standards. Importantly, the bill includes a sunset provision, meaning it will expire five years after enactment unless renewed.

Summary of Significant Issues

1. Funding and Accountability:
The bill does not specify the funding that will be allocated to the JCDC, making it challenging to assess potential for wasteful spending. Additionally, there is a lack of clear accountability measures and performance metrics to evaluate the efficiency of the Collaborative’s operations, which could lead to inefficiencies.

2. Roles and Responsibilities:
The roles and responsibilities for the various government entities involved in the Collaborative are not clearly defined. This ambiguity could lead to overlaps or inefficiencies in executing the Collaborative’s duties.

3. Partner Selection and Security:
The process for selecting partner organizations, particularly foreign entities, lacks transparency and could raise security concerns. The provisions for information sharing with foreign entities are especially concerning as the process for evaluating foreign participation is not well outlined.

4. Information Security Policies:
The policy on information access and security lacks specific enforcement mechanisms or penalties for breaches. This lack of enforcement could weaken the effectiveness of information-sharing protocols intended to protect against cybersecurity threats.

5. Advisory Council Transparency:
The creation of the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative Advisory Council must be managed transparently to prevent favoritism towards certain organizations.

Impact on the Public Broadly

The establishment of the JCDC has the potential to significantly bolster the nation’s cybersecurity defenses by fostering robust collaboration between public and private sectors. Enhanced information sharing and coordinated defense operations could help detect and mitigate cyber threats more efficiently, benefitting the public by protecting critical infrastructure and national security interests.

However, the success of the Collaborative hinges on overcoming pressing issues such as funding transparency, clearly defined roles, and robust mechanisms for accountability and security. Without these, the potential for bureaucratic inefficiency and security vulnerabilities could undermine public trust and the Collaborative’s effectiveness.

Impact on Specific Stakeholders

Private Sector Companies:
For private sector companies, especially those owning or operating critical infrastructure, this bill represents an opportunity to participate in a unified defense strategy against cyber threats. However, they may face increased scrutiny and obligations related to security information sharing, which could incur additional costs.

Government Agencies:
Government entities, particularly those within CISA, would be tasked with significant responsibilities involving coordination, strategy development, and information dissemination. This could lead to an increased workload and the need for additional resources and staffing.

Cybersecurity Experts and Researchers:
These stakeholders could benefit significantly from increased collaboration opportunities through the JCDC. Their expertise would be invaluable in threat assessment and mitigation efforts, potentially leading to advancements in cybersecurity technologies and methods.

International Partners:
The stipulations for engagement with foreign entities are unclear and may require careful navigation to avoid security risks, but they also provide a framework for international cooperation in managing cybersecurity threats.

In conclusion, while the intent behind the bill is commendable, its success relies on addressing the outlined issues to ensure that it effectively strengthens national and global cybersecurity ecosystems.

Issues

  • The bill lacks specific details on the funding allocated for the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative, which complicates assessment of potential wasteful spending [Section 2].

  • There is no clear accountability measure or performance metrics established to track the efficiency of the Collaborative's operations and spending, which could lead to inefficiencies [Section 2, subsection (j)].

  • The roles and responsibilities of different government entities involved in the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative are not clearly defined, which may result in overlaps or inefficiencies [Section 2].

  • The potential lack of transparency in partner selection, particularly with foreign entities, could raise security concerns [Section 2, subsection (c)(1)(H)(iv) and (v)].

  • The provisions about information sharing with foreign entities could potentially be exploited, as the process for evaluating foreign participation is not clearly outlined [Section 2, subsection (c)(1)(H)(iv) and (e)].

  • The policy on information security and access lacks specific enforcement mechanisms or penalties for breaches, which might weaken its effectiveness [Section 2, subsection (b)(4)].

  • The establishment of the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative Advisory Council could potentially favor certain organizations if not managed transparently [Section 2, subsection (d)].

Sections

Sections are presented as they are annotated in the original legislative text. Any missing headers, numbers, or non-consecutive order is due to the original text.

1. Short title Read Opens in new tab

Summary AI

Section 1 of the Act states that it can be officially called the “Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative Act.”

2. Establishment of Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative Read Opens in new tab

Summary AI

The text establishes the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, replacing the previous Joint Cyber Planning Office. This Collaborative aims to enhance partnerships between public and private sectors to bolster cybersecurity efforts. It outlines the Collaborative's functions, the creation of a charter, the formation of an advisory council, and sets timelines and procedures for developing strategies and sharing information securely. Additionally, it specifies that the section will expire five years after its enactment.