IIB 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2096 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MAY 7, 2012 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation 
AN ACT 
To advance cybersecurity research, development, and 
technical standards, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cybersecurity En-
hancement Act of 2012’’. 
TITLE I—RESEARCH AND 
DEVELOPMENT 
SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 
In this title: 
(1) NATIONAL
COORDINATION
OFFICE.—The 
term National Coordination Office means the Na-
tional Coordination Office for the Networking and 
Information Technology Research and Development 
program. 
(2) PROGRAM.—The term Program means the 
Networking and Information Technology Research 
and Development program which has been estab-
lished under section 101 of the High-Performance 
Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511). 
SEC. 102. FINDINGS. 
Section 2 of the Cyber Security Research and Devel-
opment Act (15 U.S.C. 7401) is amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(1) Advancements in information and commu-
nications technology have resulted in a globally 
interconnected network of government, commercial, 
scientific, and education infrastructures, including 
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critical infrastructures for electric power, natural 
gas and petroleum production and distribution, tele-
communications, transportation, water supply, bank-
ing and finance, and emergency and government 
services.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Exponential 
increases in interconnectivity have facilitated en-
hanced communications, economic growth,’’ and in-
serting ‘‘These advancements have significantly con-
tributed to the growth of the United States econ-
omy’’; 
(3) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(3) The Cyberspace Policy Review published 
by the President in May, 2009, concluded that our 
information technology and communications infra-
structure is vulnerable and has ‘suffered intrusions 
that have allowed criminals to steal hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars and nation-states and other entities 
to steal intellectual property and sensitive military 
information’.’’; and 
(4) by amending paragraph (6) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(6) While African-Americans, Hispanics, and 
Native Americans constitute 33 percent of the col-
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lege-age population, members of these minorities 
comprise less than 20 percent of bachelor degree re-
cipients in the field of computer sciences.’’. 
SEC. 103. CYBERSECURITY STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND DE-
VELOPMENT PLAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the agencies identified 
in subsection 101(a)(3)(B)(i) through (x) of the High-Per-
formance 
Computing 
Act 
of 
1991 
(15 
U.S.C. 
5511(a)(3)(B)(i) through (x)) or designated under section 
101(a)(3)(B)(xi) of such Act, working through the Na-
tional Science and Technology Council and with the assist-
ance of the National Coordination Office, shall transmit 
to Congress a strategic plan based on an assessment of 
cybersecurity risk to guide the overall direction of Federal 
cybersecurity and information assurance research and de-
velopment for information technology and networking sys-
tems. Once every 3 years after the initial strategic plan 
is transmitted to Congress under this section, such agen-
cies shall prepare and transmit to Congress an update of 
such plan. 
(b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The strategic plan re-
quired under subsection (a) shall— 
(1) specify and prioritize near-term, mid-term 
and long-term research objectives, including objec-
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tives associated with the research areas identified in 
section 4(a)(1) of the Cyber Security Research and 
Development Act (15 U.S.C. 7403(a)(1)) and how 
the near-term objectives complement research and 
development areas in which the private sector is ac-
tively engaged; 
(2) describe how the Program will focus on in-
novative, transformational technologies with the po-
tential to enhance the security, reliability, resilience, 
and trustworthiness of the digital infrastructure, and 
to protect consumer privacy; 
(3) describe how the Program will foster the 
rapid transfer of research and development results 
into new cybersecurity technologies and applications 
for the timely benefit of society and the national in-
terest, including through the dissemination of best 
practices and other outreach activities; 
(4) describe how the Program will establish and 
maintain a national research infrastructure for cre-
ating, testing, and evaluating the next generation of 
secure networking and information technology sys-
tems; 
(5) describe how the Program will facilitate ac-
cess by academic researchers to the infrastructure 
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