Cybersecurity

US Homeland Security Could Get Its Own Cyber Defense Agency


A key House panel on Wednesday voted to create a new Homeland Security Department agency that reflects the primacy of cyber protection among DHS’ protective responsibilities.

A bill introduced yesterday by the Homeland Security Committee – approved by a voice vote – would turn an existing DHSbureaucracy, the National Protection and Programs Directorate, or NPPD, into an “operational” agency, like the Transportation Security Administration.

The directorate would be renamed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency. It is expected the overhaul would take effect under the next White House administration in 2017.

A 2015 bill bestowed DHS with new private sector cyber duties, “and we want to ensure that we elevate the cybersecurity mission so it can effectively carry out those authorities,” a House committee staffer, who spoke on background, told Nextgov.