Dive Brief:

• The Federal Computer Security Act of 2015, sponsored by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Carper (D-Del.), would require inspectors general to report on practices and tools used by federal agencies to protect their data and networks. 

• The bill gives OIGs a 240-day deadline to report to Congress and the Government Accountability Office.

• It’s possible the bill will end up as an amendment to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, which the Senate intends to revisit after the August break.

Dive Insight:

The bill would ask inspectors general to report on things like agency use of multi-factor authentication, a census of security applications, an accounting of licenses to use security software and a description of data security practices. The bill also tasks the GAO with evaluating any roadblocks to agencies adopting protective measures and reporting those to Congress.

“The Federal Computer Security Act of 2015 will shine light on whether our federal agencies are using the most up-to-date security practices and software to safeguard our nation’s most sensitive information,” Hatch said. “Given the recent federal data breaches, this bill is critical to getting our computer networks in order and to promoting good cyber hygiene across the federal government.”