Aliya Sternstein writes the 2015 Federal Information Security Management Reform Act would allow DHS to direct any civilian agency to take a legal action when the organization’s information system faces the risk of a breach.
The legislation also calls for the department to perform targeted risk assessments and operational reviews of IT systems run by federal agencies and contractors, as well as to implement security tools for the dot.gov domain.
The bill’s sponsors are Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.)
Sternstein said DHS is allowed to check another agency’s network through the Einstein intrusion detection system upon request of the agency that needs assistance.