44 U.S.C. § 3553 - Authority and functions of the Director and the Secretary

Cite as44 U.S.C. § 3553

(a) DIRECTOR.-The Director shall oversee agency information security policies and practices, including-

(1) developing and overseeing the implementation of policies, principles, standards, and guidelines on information security, including through ensuring timely agency adoption of and compliance with standards promulgated under section 11331 of title 40;

(2) requiring agencies, consistent with the standards promulgated under such section 11331 and the requirements of this subchapter, to identify and provide information security protections commensurate with the risk and magnitude of the harm resulting from the unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of-

(A) information collected or maintained by or on behalf of an agency; or

(B) information systems used or operated by an agency or by a contractor of an agency or other organization on behalf of an agency;

(3) ensuring that the Secretary carries out the authorities and functions under subsection (b);

(4) coordinating the development of standards and guidelines under section 20 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act ( 15 U.S.C. 278g-3 ) with agencies and offices operating or exercising control of national security systems (including the National Security Agency) to assure, to the maximum extent feasible, that such standards and guidelines are complementary with standards and guidelines developed for national security systems;

(5) overseeing agency compliance with the requirements of this subchapter and section 1326 of title 41, including through any authorized action under section 11303 of title 40, to enforce accountability for compliance with such requirements; and

(6) coordinating information security policies and procedures with related information resources management policies and procedures.

(b) SECRETARY.-The Secretary, in consultation with the Director, shall administer the implementation of agency information security policies and practices for information systems, except for national security systems and information systems described in paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (e), including-

(1) assisting the Director in carrying out the authorities and functions under paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (5), and (6) of subsection (a);

(2) developing and overseeing the implementation of binding operational directives to agencies to implement the policies, principles, standards, and guidelines developed by the Director under subsection (a)(1) and the requirements of this subchapter, which may be revised or repealed by the Director if the operational directives issued on behalf of the Director are not in accordance with policies, principles, standards, and guidelines developed by the Director, including-

(A) requirements for reporting security incidents to the Federal information security incident center established under section 3556;

(B) requirements for the contents of the annual reports required to be submitted under section 3554(c)(1);

(C) requirements for the mitigation of exigent risks to information systems; and

(D) other operational requirements as the Director or Secretary, in consultation with the Director, may determine necessary;

(3) monitoring agency implementation of information security policies and practices;

(4) convening meetings with senior agency officials to help ensure effective implementation of information security policies and practices;

(5) coordinating Government-wide efforts on information security policies and practices, including consultation with the Chief Information Officers Council established under section 3603 and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology;

(6) providing operational and technical assistance to agencies in implementing policies, principles, standards, and guidelines on information security, including implementation of standards promulgated under section 11331 of title 40, including by-

(A) operating the Federal information security incident center established under section 3556;

(B) upon request by an agency, deploying, operating, and maintaining technology to assist the agency to continuously diagnose and mitigate against cyber threats and vulnerabilities, with or without reimbursement;

(C) compiling and analyzing data on agency information security; and

(D) developing and conducting targeted operational evaluations, including threat and vulnerability assessments, on the information systems;

(7) hunting for and identifying, with or without advance notice to or authorization from agencies, threats and vulnerabilities within Federal information systems;

(8) upon request by an agency, and at the Secretary's discretion, with or without reimbursement-

(A) providing services, functions, and capabilities, including operation of the agency's information security program, to assist the agency with meeting the requirements set forth in section 3554(b); and

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