Bonuses Tied to Agency IT Security

Federal agencies could miss out on special awards and bonuses if cybersecurity legislation introduced in the House on Thursday becomes law.

The bill, introduced by Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, would establish a National Cyberspace Office and a cyberspace director position at the White House. The director would be responsible for coordinating the security of federal information infrastructure polices and for reviewing and approving civilian federal agency budgets relating to the protection of IT infrastructure.

The legislation also would provide the cyberspace director the ability to recommend that the president withhold awards and bonuses for specific agencies that fail to make adequate efforts to secure their IT infrastructure in their budgets. Langevin said in a statement that giving the current cybersecurity coordinator more authority, partly over agency bonuses and awards, is a necessary step to securing the nation's networks and coordinating IT policy across government.