House approves second cybersecurity bill

By Pete Kasperowicz - 04/26/12 07:13 PM ET

The House on Thursday evening quickly approved a second cybersecurity bill, H.R. 4257, the Federal Information Security Amendments act.

The bill is aimed at updating the federal government's responsibility to manage its information systems so as to best thwart cyber threats. But according to Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the current law on the books, the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), is not enough.

"It has become a check-the-box compliance activity that all too often has little to do with minimizing security threats," Issa said Thursday.

"The bill aims to harness the last decade of technological innovation in securing federal information systems," he said of H.R. 4257. "It amends FISMA to move beyond the check-the-box compliance mentality. Our bill calls for automated and continuous monitoring… of government information systems."

The bill was approved by unanimous consent after being brought up under a suspension of House rules. Suspension bills are usually non-controversial, and must pass by a two-thirds majority vote.