II 

Calendar No. 221 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2699 

To establish a cybersecurity literacy campaign, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 10, 2021 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 17, 2021 

Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To establish a cybersecurity literacy campaign, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Cybersecu5 rity Literacy Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of the Congress that the United States 

3 has a national security and economic interest in promoting 

4 cybersecurity literacy amongst the general public. 

5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF CYBERSECURITY LITERACY 

6 CAMPAIGN. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary for Com8 munications and Information (referred to in this section 

9 as the ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’) shall, in consultation with 

10 the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Secu11 rity Agency of the Department of Homeland Security, de12 velop and conduct a cybersecurity literacy campaign to in13 crease the knowledge and awareness of people in the 

14 United States of best practices to reduce cybersecurity 

15 risks. 

16 (b) CAMPAIGN.—To reduce cybersecurity risks, the 

17 Assistant Secretary shall— 

18 (1) identify the critical areas of an IT system 

19 that present cybersecurity risks and educate people 

20 in the United States on how to prevent and mitigate 

21 such attacks by— 

22 (A) instructing such people on how to iden23 tify— 

24 (i) phishing emails; and 

25 (ii) secure websites; 


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1 (B) instructing such people on the need to 

2 change default passwords on hardware and soft3 ware technology; 

4 (C) encouraging the use of cybersecurity 

5 tools, including— 

6 (i) multi-factor authentication; 

7 (ii) complex passwords; 

8 (iii) firewalls; and 

9 (iv) anti-virus software; 

10 (D) identifying the devices that could pose 

11 possible cybersecurity risks, including— 

12 (i) personal computers; 

13 (ii) smartphones; 

14 (iii) tablets; 

15 (iv) Wi-Fi routers; and 

16 (v) smart home appliances; 

17 (E) encouraging such people to— 

18 (i) regularly review mobile application 

19 permissions; 

20 (ii) decline privilege requests from mo21 bile applications that are unnecessary; 

22 (iii) download applications only from 

23 trusted vendors or sources; and 


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1 (iv) connect internet of things or de2 vices to a separate and dedicated network; 

3 and 

4 (F) identifying the potential cybersecurity 

5 risks of using publicly available Wi-Fi networks 

6 and the methods a user may utilize to limit 

7 such risks; and 

8 (2) direct people and businesses in the United 

9 States to Federal resources to help mitigate the cy10 bersecurity risks identified in this subsection. 

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Cybersecurity 

13 Literacy Act of 2021’’. 

14 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

15 It is the sense of the Congress that the United States 

16 has a national security and economic interest in promoting 

17 cybersecurity literacy amongst the general public. 

18 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF CYBERSECURITY LITERACY 

19 CAMPAIGN. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National Insti21 tute of Standards and Technology shall, in consultation 

22 with the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 

23 Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security, 

24 develop and conduct a cybersecurity literacy campaign to 


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1 increase the knowledge and awareness of people in the 

2 United States of best practices to reduce cybersecurity risks. 

3 (b) ELEMENTS.—In carrying out subsection (a), the 

4 Director of the Institute shall— 

5 (1) identify the critical areas of an information 

6 technology system that presents cybersecurity risks 

7 and educate people in the United States on how to 

8 prevent and mitigate such risks by— 

9 (A) instructing such people on how to iden10 tify— 

11 (i) phishing emails; and 

12 (ii) secure websites; 

13 (B) instructing such people on the need to 

14 change default passwords on hardware and soft15 ware technology; 

16 (C) encouraging the use of cybersecurity 

17 tools, including— 

18 (i) multi-factor authentication; 

19 (ii) complex passwords; 

20 (iii) firewalls; and 

21 (iv) anti-virus software; 

22 (D) identifying the devices that could pose 

23 possible cybersecurity risks, including— 

24 (i) personal computers; 

25 (ii) smartphones; 


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•S 2699 RS

1 (iii) tablets; 

2 (iv) Wi-Fi routers; and 

3 (v) smart home appliances; 

4 (E) encouraging such people to— 

5 (i) regularly review mobile application 

6 permissions; 

7 (ii) decline privilege requests from mo8 bile applications that are unnecessary; 

9 (iii) download applications only from 

10 trusted vendors or sources; and 

11 (iv) connect internet of things or de12 vices to a separate and dedicated network; 

13 and 

14 (F) identifying the potential cybersecurity 

15 risks of using publicly available Wi-Fi networks 

16 and the methods a user may utilize to limit such 

17 risks; and 

18 (2) direct people and businesses in the United 

19 States to Federal resources to help mitigate the cyber20 security risks identified in this subsection. 


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Calendar No. 221 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2699 

A BILL 

To establish a cybersecurity literacy campaign, and 

D

for other purposes. 

ECEMBER 17, 2021 

Reported with an amendment 


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