Veterans’ Cyber Risk Awareness Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2326 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a communications and outreach campaign to educate veterans about cyber risks, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 1, 2021 Ms. MACE (for herself and Mr. BOST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a communications and outreach campaign to educate vet- erans about cyber risks, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Cyber Risk 4 Awareness Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE VETERANS ABOUT CYBER 6 RISKS. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.IH H2326 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2326 IH Veterans Affairs, through the Office of Public and Inter- 1 governmental Affairs (or successor office), shall conduct 2 a communications and outreach campaign to educate vet- 3 erans about cyber risks. In carrying out such campaign, 4 the Secretary shall— 5 (1) coordinate with other entities (including 6 Federal entities and social media companies) that 7 educate the public about cyber risks; 8 (2) promote and disseminate best practices and 9 educational materials regarding— 10 (A) cyber risks to veterans; 11 (B) information about how a veteran may 12 report cyber risks to the appropriate law en- 13 forcement agency or entity other than the De- 14 partment of Veterans Affairs; and 15 (C) any other information the Secretary 16 determines appropriate; and 17 (3) establish and maintain a publicly accessible 18 website of the Department— 19 (A) regarding the campaign; and 20 (B) that contains hyperlinks to websites of 21 entities described in paragraph (2). 22 (b) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than 60 days 23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.IH H2326 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2326 IH shall submit to Congress a report on progress of the Sec- 1 retary in preparing the campaign under this section. 2 SEC. 3. STUDY ON CYBER RISKS TO VETERANS. 3 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Veterans 4 Affairs shall seek to enter into an agreement with a feder- 5 ally funded research and development corporation to per- 6 form a study— 7 (1) that assesses— 8 (A) the vulnerability of veterans to cyber 9 risks; 10 (B) the availability and efficacy of re- 11 sources (including Federal resources) to assist 12 veterans in combatting cyber risks; and 13 (C) the efficacy of the campaign under sec- 14 tion 1; and 15 (2) to determine recommendations to the Sec- 16 retary on how to reduce cyber risks to veterans. 17 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 19 shall submit to Congress a report containing the results 20 of the study under this section. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.IH H2326 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2326 IH SEC. 4. CYBER RISKS DEFINED. 1 In this Act, the term ‘‘cyber risks’’ includes 2 disinformation, identity theft, scams, and fraud, spread 3 via the internet or social media. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2326.IH H2326 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS