Senate Committee Advances Cyber Innovation Legislation

The Senate Commerce Committee voted to unanimously advance a bill that would offer cash and non-cash prizes for cybersecurity innovations. The Cybersecurity Competitions to Yield Better Efforts to Research the Latest Exceptionally Advanced Problems—or CYBER LEAP—Act of 2020 instructs the Secretary of Commerce to establish national grand challenges to “achieve high-priority breakthroughs in cybersecurity by 2028” in five areas: the economics of a cyberattack, cyber training, emerging technology, reimagining digital identity, and federal agency resilience.  

The legislation passed with an amendment by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) eliminating the ability for the Secretary of Commerce to establish additional grand challenges. Another cost saving amendment added by Senator Lee clarifies that an advisory committee the bill calls for to inform aspects such as metrics for judging the competitions would not be compensated beyond travel reimbursements. 

The idea for the challenge was originally proposed by leaders of tech companies such as Unisys, Qualcomm and Palo Alto Networks. It is outlined in the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee’s report on creating a cybersecurity “moonshot.” Under the current legislation, the Secretary of Commerce should take the report’s recommendations into consideration in establishing the challenge competitions. 

While the original moonshot idea included appropriations from Congress, the CYBER LEAP Act calls upon the secretary to request and accept funds from other agencies, states, territories, local and tribal government agencies, private sector for-profit entities, and nonprofit entities to support efforts to pursue a national cybersecurity grand challenge.

The legislation is sponsored by Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV).

“Investing in our cybersecurity workforce is vital for our national security and our economic future,” Senator Rosen told Nextgov. “That’s why I’m glad to see the CYBER LEAP Act move out of committee and head to the Senate floor. Building on our bipartisan efforts to develop a cybersecurity workforce with the skills needed to keep our country safe from cyber threats, this new legislation will help spark innovation and put Americans to work finding solutions to our nation’s greatest cybersecurity challenges.”