WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) today released the following statements after their National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act, which will authorize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to work with the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC) to help prepare for and respond to cybersecurity risks at the national, state, and local levels, was signed into law:
“We’ve already seen an increase in cyberattacks during Russia’s war with Ukraine, and this kind of warfare will only become more common in the future,” said Sen. Cornyn. “This legislation, now law, will help us prepare our critical infrastructure for cyberattacks at every level of government, and I’d like to thank Senator Leahy and the Administration for recognizing the urgency of this threat.”
“Improving our communities’ cyber readiness, response, and recovery in partnership with some of the finest academic institutions in cyber security makes sense. With this new law, DHS and NCPC will be able to work over multiple years to raise the cyber skills of those they help,” said Sen. Leahy.
Background:
The NCPC is comprised of university-based training entities including the University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, the University of Arkansas, the University of Memphis, and Norwich University.
Under this bill, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be authorized to work with the NCPC to:
- Provide training to state and local first responders and officials, develop curriculums, and provide technical assistance;
- Conduct cross-sector cybersecurity training and simulation exercises for state and local governments, critical infrastructure owners and operators, and private industry;
- Help states and communities develop cybersecurity information sharing programs; and
- Help incorporate cybersecurity risk and incident prevention and response into existing state and local emergency plans and continuity of operations plans.