New bill strengthens DHS role in federal cybersecurity. Your thoughts?

A bipartisan group of senators looking to strengthen the Department of Homeland Security's ability to intercede at agencies with weak cybersecurity introduced the Federal Information Security Management Reform Act (FISMA Reform) on Wednesday.

Senators introduced the new legislation in response to two massive breaches of Office of Personnel Management networks reported this year, asserting that more involvement from DHS — the government agency in charge of guarding federal networks — could have stopped the hackers.

"The attack on OPM has been a painful illustration of just how behind-the-curve some of our federal agencies have been when it comes to cybersecurity," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., one of six co-sponsors on the bill. "If we want to be better prepared to meet this threat in the future, we have to make sure that the Department of Homeland Security has the tools it needs to adequately secure our federal civilian networks."

The Office of Management and Budget gave DHS the authority to scan civilian agency networks back in October but the new legislation takes it much further. The FISMA Reform legislation would codify some of that authority, as well as enabling DHS to take more proactive measures when appropriate.

http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/cybersecurity/2015/07/23/fisma-reform-act/30564001/