Top Dem pushes $37M for network security: ‘This is a crisis’

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) plans to offer amendments to a spending bill Thursday that would boost funding to improve federal cybersecurity and protect millions of people whose personal information was exposed in a major breach.

Mikulski, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, will present her proposals Thursday during a markup of the 2016 Financial Services and General Government spending bill.

The first amendment would provide $37 million more to speed up improvements to network systems and information technology (IT) infrastructure one year ahead of schedule, according to Mikulski’s office.

{mosads}The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has suffered from two major cyberattacks, exposing information of at least 22 million people. Mikulski said OPM’s retirement services and background information databases contain the most sensitive data at the agency.

“Securing these systems must be done now. We can’t wait for the next budget cycle,” she warned. “This is a crisis and must be treated like a crisis.”

Mikulski will file a second amendment that would provide at least 10 years of credit-monitoring services and $5 million in liability protection for related damages to people whose data was compromised in the OPM hacks.

It’s based on legislation she introduced with Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

The spending bill would provide OPM $264.5 million for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. That’s $24 million more than current levels, but $8 million less than OPM’s request.

Following the data breaches, OPM submitted a revised budget request a few weeks ago.

A summary of the bill, whose text has not yet been released, says the measure fully funds IT security improvements at the agency.