CRITICAL PROTECTIONS

Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Friday introduced legislation intended to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks and other national security threats.

The National Risk Management Act would require the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to conduct a five-year national risk management cycle. This would involve CISA identifying and compiling the major risks to critical infrastructure in a report sent to the president and Congress, with the president then detailing to Congress how the administration was tackling these threats.

Hassan emphasized the need to focus on emerging threats such as those from foreign hackers, which have escalated during the past year.

Sasse, who is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stressed in a separate statement the need to protect critical systems due to the changing nature of attacks.