House panel passes bill to protect agency computer systems

The House Science Committee approved bipartisan legislation Wednesday to help federal agencies better protect their electronic information systems.

The bill, H.R. 2413, approved by voice vote, would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to promote the use of commercially available encryption products in order to reduce the costs and increase the availability of data protection technologies for federal agencies.

The bill, which was approved by a subcommittee in 1999, in the wake of a spate of computer viruses and hacker attacks on federal agencies, was not a "knee-jerk reaction," said Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-WI.

A similar version of the bill passed the House at the end of the 105th Congress but was not signed into law.

The panel approved an amendment in the nature of a substitute addressing some administration concerns.