Legislation Seeks to Install New Cybersecurity Coordinators at the State Level

A cybersecurity leader for each state? Introducing the Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act of 2020.

Countering Cybercrime

The Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act and those who back it propose that the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s director is to appoint one employee per state, who will then become the state coordinator, improving intelligence sharing between federal and state governments, as well as significantly increasing the response time in case an attack happens.

The money required to create and implement the positions will be coming from the federal government should the legislation pass, and the role of each coordinator will have a few elements including training, advisory work and program development.

Each state coordinator will serve as a principal federal cybersecurity risk advisor. They would be expected to plan and coordinate training sessions and exercises in order to make recoveries from attacks as fast as possible and will assist non-federal entities in developing vulnerability disclosure programs.

“State, local, Tribal, and territorial entities face a growing threat from advanced persistent threat actors, hostile nation states, criminal groups, and other malicious cyber actors. There is an urgent need for greater engagement and expertise from the Federal Government to help these entities build their resilience and defenses,” the bill reads.

“This bipartisan bill, which creates a cybersecurity state coordinator position, would help bolster state and local governments’ cybersecurity by facilitating their relationship with the federal government to ensure they know what preventative resources are available to them as well as who to turn to if an attack occurs,” Senator Rob Portman of Ohio said.

The bill has attracted bi-partisan support, being introduced by Senators Maggie Hassan and Gary Peters, and co-sponsored by Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Rob Portman of Ohio.