FISMA Reform Passes House

The House passed on Friday by a 229 to 186 vote the Defense authorization bill, which included an amendment to overhaul federal cybersecurity policy.

Inclusion of the amendment's information security provisions in the Defense bill is an obvious attempt to speed passage of existing measures from the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to update the Federal Information Security Management Act, which dictates agencies' information security processes, and establish a National Office of Cyberspace in the White House with budget authority and governmentwide coordinating responsibilities.