§681g — Title 6 Domestic Security | U.S. Code

Summary

Federal agencies that get reports about cyber incidents or ransomware attacks must send those reports to the Agency as soon as they can, and no later than 24 hours after they receive them, unless DHS and that agency agreed to a shorter deadline. The Director must share and coordinate each report under section 681a(b). These rules do not count as breaking other laws or policies that limit sharing inside the executive branch. If the reporting agency has stronger rules for privacy, confidentiality, or information security, the Director must follow those stronger protections. These duties start when the final rule required under section 681b(b) takes effect. The Agency and federal agencies should make written agreements that set how reports are handled, try to publish those agreements when possible, and make sure sharing meets the timing rules in section 681b. The Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Director and after consulting the Cyber Incident Reporting Council, must regularly review reporting rules to avoid conflicts, duplication, or extra burden. They must also work with other federal partners to streamline reporting and, where possible, set up interagency agreements so reports can be shared lawfully without keeping the Agency from getting timely situational awareness.

Title 6, §681g

Domestic Security — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation, any Federal agency, including any independent establishment (as defined in section 104 of title 5), that receives a report from an entity of a cyber incident, including a ransomware attack, shall provide the report to the Agency as soon as possible, but not later than 24 hours after receiving the report, unless a shorter period is required by an agreement made between the Department of Homeland Security (including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) and the recipient Federal agency. The Director shall share and coordinate each report pursuant to section 681a(b) of this title, as added by section 103 of this division.

(2)The requirements described in paragraph (1) and section 681e(d) of this title, as added by section 103 of this division, may not be construed to be a violation of any provision of law or policy that would otherwise prohibit disclosure or provision of information within the executive branch.

(3)The Director shall comply with any obligations of the recipient Federal agency described in paragraph (1) to protect information, including with respect to privacy, confidentiality, or information security, if those obligations would impose greater protection requirements than this division or the amendments made by this division.

(4)This subsection shall take effect on the effective date of the final rule issued pursuant to section 681b(b) of this title, as added by section 103 of this division.

(5)(A)The Agency and any Federal agency, including any independent establishment (as defined in section 104 of title 5), that receives incident reports from entities, including due to ransomware attacks, shall, as appropriate, enter into a documented agreement to establish policies, processes, procedures, and mechanisms to ensure reports are shared with the Agency pursuant to paragraph (1).

(B)To the maximum extent practicable, each documented agreement required under subparagraph (A) shall be made publicly available.

(C)The documented agreements required by subparagraph (A) shall require reports be shared from Federal agencies with the Agency in such time as to meet the overall timeline for covered entity reporting of covered cyber incidents and ransom payments established in section 681b of this title, as added by section 103 of this division.

(b)The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Director, shall, in consultation with the Cyber Incident Reporting Council described in section 681f of this title, as added by section 103 of this division, to the maximum extent practicable—

(1)periodically review existing regulatory requirements, including the information required in such reports, to report incidents and ensure that any such reporting requirements and procedures avoid conflicting, duplicative, or burdensome requirements; and

(2)coordinate with appropriate Federal partners and regulatory authorities that receive reports relating to incidents to identify opportunities to streamline reporting processes, and where feasible, facilitate interagency agreements between such authorities to permit the sharing of such reports, consistent with applicable law and policy, without impacting the ability of the Agency to gain timely situational awareness of a covered cyber incident or ransom payment.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 103 of this division, referred to in text, is section 103 of div. Y of Pub. L. 117–103, which enacted this part and amended section 659 of this title. Codification Section was enacted as part of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022, and also as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, and not as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 which comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Definitions For definitions of terms used in this section, see section 102 of div. Y of Pub. L. 117–103, which is set out as a note under section 665j of this title.

§681g Federal sharing of incident reports