President Joe Biden signed into law Thursday a bipartisan bill to establish a data collection system for federal law enforcement agencies to measure and track cybercrime.
The Better Cybercrime Metrics Act requires the Department of Justice to enlist the National Academy of Sciences for a taxonomy development project and to integrate data on cases into the National Incident Based Reporting System, the office of Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., said Thursday.
Spanberger introduced the bill in the House of Representatives in August last year. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, led companion legislation that passed in the Senate in December.
“One year ago this week, we saw the damaging effects of the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline,” said the representative from Virginia.
“And as cybercriminals increasingly adapt their methods of attack against vulnerable people and networks, the United States must improve our cybercrime classification system. Otherwise, we are risking the safety and privacy of American families, homes, businesses, and government agencies.”
A Jan. 27 Congressional Budget Office report estimated that the implementation of law provisions requiring DOJ to make a contract with the NAS nonprofit organization to build the classification system and update the National Crime Victimization Survey would cost the department $3 million.