House Panel Approves Cyber-security Awareness Act

The legislation implements recommendations made in the White House's Cyberspace Policy Review and during the panel's witness testimony. The bill now moves to full House Science and Technology Committee.

"The convergence of telecommunication, Internet and video devices requires a corresponding convergence in cybersecurity technical standards development," Wu said. "A coordinated policy will ensure that these representatives operate with the overarching need of the U.S. infrastructure in mind."

The subcommittee also approved an amendment to the bill sponsored by Wu to include health information technology systems as part of NIST’s work on identity management research and standards development.

"As we work to increase adoption of health IT in our medical system, it is important to recognize that the increased digitization and sharing of records must be accompanied by adequate privacy safeguards," Wu said. "Ensuring that we advance technologies and methods used to protect privacy should be central to NIST's work in health IT."