Watch Senator Rosen’s Full Remarks Here.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, during a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) spoke with cybersecurity experts, including Christopher Krebs, Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), on the need to prevent data breaches, and what steps can be taken to empower small businesses to protect themselves and recover from attacks:
“Data breaches are occurring at a record pace,” said Senator Rosen. “More than four billion records have been exposed in the first half of 2019 alone. We know the costs, the impacts this has on businesses, not to mention the reputational harm that’s inflicted.”
“One way to mitigate the impacts of cyberattacks on businesses is through the development of a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that will restore data, applications, and even hardware. We know that such planning can help avoid the worst consequences of a cyberattack,” Senator Rosen continued. “Small companies really face a financial impact. Over 90 percent of businesses in Nevada are small businesses.”
“How can we help small businesses to understand that you can overcome a breach by having a good disaster plan in place?” asked Senator Rosen.
BACKGROUND: In January, alongside Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jim Risch (R-ID), Senator Rosen helped introduce the SECURE Small Business Act (S.3205), bipartisan legislation to establish a cooperative at the Small Business Administration to help small business access data protection resources and purchase affordable cybersecurity products, services, and insurance together.
Last year, Senator Rosen introduced the bipartisan Cyber Ready Workforce Act (S.1466), legislation that would direct the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to award grants to workforce intermediaries to support the creation, implementation, and expansion of registered apprenticeship programs in cybersecurity.
In 2019, Senator Rosen also introduced the JROTC Cyber Training Act (S.2154), bipartisan legislation that would direct the Secretary of Defense to carry out a program to enhance the preparation of cadets in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) for careers in computer science and cybersecurity.
Last year, Senator Rosen’s Building Blocks of STEM Act (S.737) was signed into law. This bipartisan bill will create and expand upon STEM education initiatives at the National Science Foundation (NSF) for young children, including new research grants to increase the participation of girls in computer science.
As a member of the House of the Representatives, in 2017 then-Congresswoman Rosen helped introduce the NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act (H.R.2105), bipartisan legislation to create and make available resources to help small business identify, manage, and reduce their cybersecurity risks. This bill passed the House in October 2017, and in August 2018, identical companion legislation from the Senate was signed into law.
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