Reps. John Katko, R-N.Y., and Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., introduced a bipartisan bill in the House on Tuesday to protect systemically important critical infrastructure (SICI) from cyber attacks.
Their bill, the Securing Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure Act, helps establish a transparent process for designating SICI and directs the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to prioritize meaningful benefits to SICI owners and operators without any additional burden.
“Over the past year, we’ve seen the devastating real-world impacts of sophisticated cyber attacks on our nation’s critical infrastructure,” said Rep. Katko.
“To mitigate risks to our economic and national security going forward, we need a clear process for identifying which infrastructure constitutes systemically important critical infrastructure. Disruption to this infrastructure – ranging from pipelines to software – could have an outsized impact on our homeland security,” he added.
“The U.S. intelligence community has confirmed that foreign adversaries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea currently have the capability to launch cyber attacks against our nation’s critical infrastructure,” said Rep. Garbarino.
“The threat is real and must be met with practical mitigation measures. The Securing Systemically Important Critical Infrastructure Act will ensure owners and operators of America’s most critical infrastructure differentiate covered assets according to a risk management-based framework,” he added.
