Critical Technology Security Centers Act of 2023

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish Critical Technology Security Centers in the Department of Homeland Security to evaluate and test the security of critical technology, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Critical Technology Security Centers Act of 2023 2. Critical technology security centers (a) Critical technology security centers Title III of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 181 et seq. 324. Critical Technology Security Centers (a) Establishment Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, and in coordination with the Director, shall award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to covered entities for the establishment of not fewer than two cybersecurity-focused Critical Technology Security Centers (in this section referred to as Centers (b) Evaluation and testing In carrying out the evaluation and testing of the security of critical technology pursuant to subsection (a), the Centers shall address the following technologies: (1) The security of information and communications technology that underpins national critical functions related to communications. (2) The security of networked industrial equipment, such as connected programmable data logic controllers and supervisory control and data acquisition servers. (3) The security of open source software that underpins national critical functions. (4) The security of critical software used by the Federal Government. (c) Addition or termination of Centers (1) In general The Under Secretary for Science and Technology may, in coordination with the Director, award or terminate grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to covered entities for the establishment of additional or termination of existing Centers to evaluate and test the security of critical technologies. (2) Limitation The authority provided under paragraph (1) may be exercised except if such exercise would result in the operation at any time of fewer than two Centers. (d) Selection of critical technologies (1) In general Before awarding a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement to a covered entity to establish a Center, the Under Secretary for Science and Technology shall coordinate with the Director, who shall provide the Under Secretary a list of critical technologies or guidance on such technologies that would be within the remit of any such Center. (2) Expansion and modification The Under Secretary for Science and Technology, in coordination with the Director, is authorized to expand or modify at any time the list of critical technologies or guidance on technologies referred to in paragraph (1) that is within the remit of a proposed or established Center. (e) Responsibilities In carrying out the evaluation and testing of the security of critical technology pursuant to subsection (a), the Centers shall each have the following responsibilities: (1) Conducting rigorous security testing to identify vulnerabilities in such technologies. (2) Utilizing the coordinated vulnerability disclosure processes established under subsection (g) to report to the developers of such technologies and, as appropriate, to the Director, information relating to vulnerabilities discovered and any information necessary to reproduce such vulnerabilities. (3) Developing new capabilities for improving the security of such technologies, including vulnerability discovery, management, mitigation, and remediation. (4) Assessing the security of software, firmware, and hardware that underpin national critical functions. (5) Supporting existing communities of interest, including through grant making, in mitigating and remediating vulnerabilities discovered within such technologies. (6) Sharing findings to inform and support the future work of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. (f) Risk-Based evaluations Unless otherwise directed pursuant to guidance issued by the Under Secretary for Science and Technology or Director under subsection (d), to the greatest extent practicable activities carried out pursuant to the responsibilities specified in subsection (e) shall leverage risk-based evaluations to focus on activities that have the greatest effect on the security of the critical technologies within each Center’s remit, such as the following: (1) Developing capabilities that can detect or eliminate entire classes of vulnerabilities. (2) Testing for vulnerabilities in the most widely used critical technologies, or vulnerabilities that affect many such critical technologies. (g) Coordinated vulnerability disclosure processes Each Center shall establish, in coordination with the Director, coordinated vulnerability disclosure processes regarding the disclosure of vulnerabilities that— (1) are adhered to when a vulnerability is discovered or disclosed by each such Center, consistent with international standards and coordinated vulnerability disclosure best practices; and (2) are published on the website of each such Center. (h) Application To be eligible for an award of a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement as a Center, a covered entity shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and including such information as the Secretary may require. (i) Public reporting of vulnerabilities The Under Secretary for Science and Technology shall ensure that vulnerabilities discovered by a Center are reported to the National Vulnerability Database of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, as appropriate and using the coordinated vulnerability disclosure processes established under subsection (g). (j) Additional guidance The Under Secretary for Science and Technology, in coordination with the Director, shall develop, and periodically update, guidance, including eligibility and any additional requirements, relating to how Centers may award grants to communities of interest pursuant to subsection (e)(5) to mitigate and remediate vulnerabilities and take other actions under such subsection and subsection (k). (k) Open source software security grants (1) In general Any Center addressing open source software security may, in consultation with the Under Secretary for Science and Technology and Director, award grants to individual open source software developers and maintainers, nonprofit organizations, and other non-Federal entities as determined appropriate by any such Center, to fund improvements in the security of the open source software ecosystem. (2) Improvements A grant awarded under paragraph (1) may include improvements such as the following: (A) Security audits. (B) Funding for developers to patch vulnerabilities. (C) Addressing code, infrastructure, and structural weaknesses, including rewrites of open source software components in memory-safe programming languages. (D) Research and tools to assess and improve the overall security of the open source software ecosystem, such as improved software fault isolation techniques. (E) Training and other tools to aid open source software developers in the secure development of open source software, including secure coding practices and secure systems architecture. (3) Priority In awarding grants under paragraph (1), a Center shall prioritize, to the greatest extent practicable, the following: (A) Where applicable, open source software components identified in guidance from the Director, or if no such guidance is so provided, utilizing the risk-based evaluation described in subsection (f). (B) Activities that most promote the long-term security of the open source software ecosystem. (l) Biennial reports to Under Secretary Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this section and every two years thereafter, each Center shall submit to the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, Director, and the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes the following: (1) A summary of the work performed by such Center. (2) Information relating to the allocation of Federal funds at such Center. (3) A list of critical technologies studied by such Center. (4) A description of each vulnerability that has been publicly disclosed pursuant to subsection (g), including information relating to the corresponding software weakness. (5) An assessment of the criticality of each such vulnerability. (6) An overview of the methodologies used by such Center, such as tactics, techniques, and procedures. (7) A description of such Center’s development of capabilities for vulnerability discovery, management, and mitigation. (8) A summary of such Center’s support to existing communities of interest, including an accounting of dispersed grant funds. (9) For such Center, if applicable, a summary of any grants awarded during the period covered by the report that includes the following: (A) An identification of the entity to which each such grant was awarded. (B) The amount of each such grant. (C) The purpose of each such grant. (D) The expected impact of each such grant. (10) The coordinated vulnerability disclosure processes established by such Center. (m) Reports to Congress Upon receiving the reports required under subsection (l), the Under Secretary for Science and Technology shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a summary of such reports, and, where applicable, an explanation for any deviations in the list of critical technologies studied by a Center from the list of critical technologies or guidance relating to such technologies provided by the Director pursuant to subsection (d). (n) Consultation with relevant agencies In carrying out this section, the Under Secretary shall consult with the heads of other Federal agencies conducting cybersecurity research, including the following: (1) The National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2) The National Science Foundation. (3) Relevant agencies of the Department of Energy. (4) Relevant agencies of the Department of Defense. (o) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section the following: (1) $42,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. (2) $44,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. (3) $46,000,000 for fiscal year 2026. (4) $49,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. (5) $52,000,000 for fiscal year 2028. (p) Definitions In this section: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees (A) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives; and (B) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. (2) Covered entity The term covered entity (3) Critical technology The term critical technology (4) Critical software The term critical software (5) Open source software The term open source software (6) Director The term Director . (b) Identification of certain technology Paragraph (1) of section 2202(e) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 652(e) (S) To identify the critical technologies (as such term is defined in section 324) or develop guidance relating to such technologies within the remits of the Critical Technology Security Centers as described in such section. . (c) Clerical amendment The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 323 the following new item: Sec. 324. Critical Technology Security Centers. .

Summary: Critical Technology Security Centers Act of 2023 This bill directs the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), to support the establishment of at least two cybersecurity-focused Critical Technology Security Centers to evaluate and test the security of critical technology. The centers shall leverage risk-based evaluations to focus on activities that have the greatest effect on the security of the critical technologies within each center's scope. Each center must establish, in coordination with CISA, coordinated vulnerability disclosure processes. Vulnerabilities discovered by a center must be reported to the National Vulnerability Database of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Any center addressing open source software security may award grants to individual open source software developers and maintainers, nonprofit organizations, and other nonfederal entities to fund improvements in the security of the open source software ecosystem. Open source software is defined as software for which the human-readable source code is made available to the public for use, study, re-use, modification, enhancement, and redistribution. Each center must report to the directorate on a biennial basis. The directorate shall then report to Congress.