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retary of State to lead an interagency effort to de-
velop strategic options for the President to deter ad-
versaries from cyber threats and an engagement 
strategy for international cooperation in cybersecu-
rity, noting that ‘‘the United States is especially de-
pendent on a globally secure and resilient internet 
and must work with allies and other partners’’ to-
ward maintaining ‘‘the policy of the executive branch 
to promote an open, interoperable, reliable, and se-
cure internet that fosters efficiency, innovation, com-
munication, and economic prosperity, while respect-
ing privacy and guarding against deception, fraud, 
and theft.’’. 
SEC. 3. UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL CYBERSPACE 
POLICY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Congress declares that it is the 
policy of the United States to work internationally with 
allies and other partners to promote an open, interoper-
able, reliable, unfettered, and secure internet governed by 
the multistakeholder model which promotes human rights, 
democracy, and rule of law, including freedom of expres-
sion, innovation, communication, and economic prosperity, 
while respecting privacy and guarding against deception, 
fraud, and theft. 
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(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—In implementing the policy 
described in subsection (a), the President, in consultation 
with outside actors, including technology companies, non-
governmental organizations, security researchers, and 
other relevant stakeholders, shall pursue the following ob-
jectives in the conduct of bilateral and multilateral rela-
tions: 
(1) Clarifying the applicability of international 
laws and norms, including the law of armed conflict, 
to the use of ICT. 
(2) Clarifying that countries that fall victim to 
malicious cyber activities have the right to take pro-
portionate countermeasures under international law, 
provided such measures do not violate a funda-
mental human right or peremptory norm. 
(3) Reducing and limiting the risk of escalation 
and retaliation in cyberspace, such as massive de-
nial-of-service attacks, damage to critical infrastruc-
ture, or other malicious cyber activity that impairs 
the use and operation of critical infrastructure that 
provides services to the public. 
(4) Cooperating with like-minded democratic 
countries that share common values and cyberspace 
policies with the United States, including respect for 
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human rights, democracy, and rule of law, to ad-
vance such values and policies internationally. 
(5) Securing and implementing commitments 
on responsible country behavior in cyberspace based 
upon accepted norms, including the following: 
(A) Countries should not conduct or know-
ingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual 
property, including trade secrets or other con-
fidential business information, with the intent 
of providing competitive advantages to compa-
nies or commercial sectors. 
(B) Countries should cooperate in devel-
oping and applying measures to increase sta-
bility and security in the use of ICTs and to 
prevent ICT practices that are acknowledged to 
be harmful or that may pose threats to inter-
national peace and security. 
(C) Countries should take all appropriate 
and reasonable efforts to keep their territories 
clear of intentionally wrongful acts using ICTs 
in violation of international commitments. 
(D) Countries should not conduct or know-
ingly support ICT activity that, contrary to 
international law, intentionally damages or oth-
erwise impairs the use and operation of critical 
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infrastructure, and should take appropriate 
measures to protect their critical infrastructure 
from ICT threats. 
(E) Countries should not conduct or know-
ingly support malicious international activity 
that, contrary to international law, harms the 
information systems of authorized emergency 
response teams (sometimes known as ‘‘com-
puter emergency response teams’’ or ‘‘cyberse-
curity incident response teams’’) or related pri-
vate sector companies of another country. 
(F) Countries should identify economic 
drivers and incentives to promote securely-de-
signed ICT products and to develop policy and 
legal frameworks to promote the development of 
secure internet architecture. 
(G) Countries should respond to appro-
priate requests for assistance to mitigate mali-
cious ICT activity aimed at the critical infra-
structure of another country emanating from 
their territory. 
(H) Countries should not restrict cross- 
border data flows or require local storage or 
processing of data. 
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(I) Countries should protect the exercise of 
human rights and fundamental freedoms on the 
Internet and commit to the principle that the 
human rights that people have offline enjoy the 
same protections online. 
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF STATE RESPONSIBILITIES. 
(a) OFFICE OF CYBER ISSUES.—Section 1 of the 
State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 
U.S.C. 2651a) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub-
section (h); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(g) OFFICE OF CYBER ISSUES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established an Of-
fice of Cyber Issues (in this subsection referred to 
as the ‘Office’). The head of the Office shall have 
the rank and status of ambassador and be appointed 
by the President, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate. 
‘‘(2) DUTIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The head of the Of-
fice shall perform such duties and exercise such 
powers as the Secretary of State shall prescribe, 
including implementing the policy of the United 
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