Bills Introduced – 12-11-13

While the Senate is still stuck in Wednesday session as of 4:20 am CST and thus their bills introduced yesterday have not yet been listed there is one bill from the House that needs to be listed for readers of this blog.

HR 3696 Latest Title: To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make certain improvements regarding cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep McCaul, Michael T. (R,TX)

This bill is a bipartisan bill introduced by McCaul, Rep. Mehan (R, PA), Rep. Thompson (D,MS) and Rep. Clarke (D,NY). A House Homeland Security Committee draft copy is available as a staff summary. I’ll have a detailed look at the bill later, but it does specifically address industrial control systems through the definition of ‘information system’ being added to 6 USC 101:

“The term ‘information system’ means the underlying framework and functions used to process, transmit, receive, or store information electronically, including programmable electronic devices, communications networks, and industrial or supervisory control systems [emphasis added] and any associated hardware, software, or data.”

Since this definition is being added to the entire Homeland Security Act of 2002, this may have more far reaching consequences than the remainder of this bill if passed.