American Cybersecurity Literacy Act of 2021

To establish a cybersecurity literacy campaign, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the American Cybersecurity Literacy Act 2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of the Congress that the United States has a national security and economic interest in promoting cybersecurity literacy amongst the general public. 3. Establishment of cybersecurity literacy campaign (a) In general The Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information (referred to in this section as the Assistant Secretary (b) Campaign To reduce cybersecurity risks, the Assistant Secretary shall— (1) identify the critical areas of an IT system that present cybersecurity risks and educate people in the United States on how to prevent and mitigate such attacks by— (A) instructing such people on how to identify— (i) phishing emails; and (ii) secure websites; (B) instructing such people on the need to change default passwords on hardware and software technology; (C) encouraging the use of cybersecurity tools, including— (i) multi-factor authentication; (ii) complex passwords; (iii) firewalls; and (iv) anti-virus software; (D) identifying the devices that could pose possible cybersecurity risks, including— (i) personal computers; (ii) smartphones; (iii) tablets; (iv) Wi-Fi routers; and (v) smart home appliances; (E) encouraging such people to— (i) regularly review mobile application permissions; (ii) decline privilege requests from mobile applications that are unnecessary; (iii) download applications only from trusted vendors or sources; and (iv) connect internet of things or devices to a separate and dedicated network; and (F) identifying the potential cybersecurity risks of using publicly available Wi-Fi networks and the methods a user may utilize to limit such risks; and (2) direct people and businesses in the United States to Federal resources to help mitigate the cybersecurity risks identified in this subsection. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the American Cybersecurity Literacy Act of 2021 2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of the Congress that the United States has a national security and economic interest in promoting cybersecurity literacy amongst the general public. 3. Establishment of cybersecurity literacy campaign (a) In general The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall, in consultation with the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security, develop and conduct a cybersecurity literacy campaign to increase the knowledge and awareness of people in the United States of best practices to reduce cybersecurity risks. (b) Elements In carrying out subsection (a), the Director of the Institute shall— (1) identify the critical areas of an information technology system that presents cybersecurity risks and educate people in the United States on how to prevent and mitigate such risks by— (A) instructing such people on how to identify— (i) phishing emails; and (ii) secure websites; (B) instructing such people on the need to change default passwords on hardware and software technology; (C) encouraging the use of cybersecurity tools, including— (i) multi-factor authentication; (ii) complex passwords; (iii) firewalls; and (iv) anti-virus software; (D) identifying the devices that could pose possible cybersecurity risks, including— (i) personal computers; (ii) smartphones; (iii) tablets; (iv) Wi-Fi routers; and (v) smart home appliances; (E) encouraging such people to— (i) regularly review mobile application permissions; (ii) decline privilege requests from mobile applications that are unnecessary; (iii) download applications only from trusted vendors or sources; and (iv) connect internet of things or devices to a separate and dedicated network; and (F) identifying the potential cybersecurity risks of using publicly available Wi-Fi networks and the methods a user may utilize to limit such risks; and (2) direct people and businesses in the United States to Federal resources to help mitigate the cybersecurity risks identified in this subsection. December 17, 2021 Reported with an amendment

Summary: American Cybersecurity Literacy Act This bill requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop and conduct a cybersecurity literacy campaign to increase knowledge and awareness of best practices to reduce cybersecurity risks.