WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and co-chair of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, issued the following statement today after President Biden signed a National Security Memorandum (NSM) to improve the cybersecurity of National Security, Department of Defense, and Intelligence Community Systems, as required in Executive Order (E.O) 14028, Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity:

“I applaud President Biden for signing this order to improve our nation’s cybersecurity. Among other priorities, this National Security Memorandum (NSM) requires federal agencies to report efforts to breach their systems by cyber criminals and state-sponsored hackers. Now it’s time for Congress to act by passing our bipartisan legislation that would require critical infrastructure owners and operators to report such cyber intrusions within 72 hours.”

In July 2021, following the SolarWinds and Colonial Pipeline hacks, Chairman Warner was joined by Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL), senior Committee member Susan Collins (R-ME), and a number of colleagues in introducing legislation to require federal government agencies, federal contractors, and critical infrastructure operators to notify the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) when a breach is detected so that the U.S. government can mobilize to protect critical industries across the country. In November 2021, Warner announced that a bipartisan agreement had been reached with the leaders of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on compromise legislation requiring critical infrastructure owners and operators to report to CISA within 72 hours if they are experiencing a substantial cyber-attack.

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