Title: Defend COVID Research from Hackers Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Defend COVID Research from Hackers Act
This bill authorizes the President to impose visa-blocking, property-blocking, or economic sanctions on a foreign person that is involved in activities that are reasonably likely to result in a significant threat to U.S. national security, foreign policy, public health, economic health, or financial stability.
The Department of State must submit a report detailing the extent of known or attempted cyber-enabled activities by foreign persons related to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) and assessing whether those activities qualify for the imposition of sanctions.
Further, the bill provides penalties for a person who knowingly traffics in access to a protected computer if the trafficker knows the protected computer has been damaged in a prohibited manner. The bill also authorizes an injunction against a person who causes damage through accessing a protected computer or transmitting a program, information, code, or command to a protected computer.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7708 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7708

  To authorize the imposition of sanctions on certain foreign persons 
  that have threatened the national security, foreign policy, public 
health, or economic health or financial stability of the United States, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 21, 2020

 Mr. McCarthy introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the imposition of sanctions on certain foreign persons 
  that have threatened the national security, foreign policy, public 
health, or economic health or financial stability of the United States, 
                        and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Defend COVID Research from Hackers 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN FOREIGN 
              PERSONS.

    (a) In General.--The President is authorized to impose sanctions 
described in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person 
determined by the President--
            (1) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have 
        engaged in, directly or indirectly, activities, including 
        cyber-enabled activities, originating from, or directed by 
        foreign persons that are reasonably likely to result in, or 
        have materially contributed to, a significant threat to the 
        national security, foreign policy, public health, or economic 
        health or financial stability of the United States and that 
        have the purpose or effect of--
                    (A) harming, or otherwise significantly 
                compromising the provision of services by a computer or 
                network of computers that support one or more entities 
                in a critical infrastructure sector;
                    (B) significantly compromising the provision of 
                services by one or more entities in a critical 
                infrastructure sector;
                    (C) causing a significant disruption to the 
                availability of a computer or network of computers; or
                    (D) causing a significant misappropriation of funds 
                or economic resources, trade secrets, personal 
                identifiers, intellectual property, or financial 
                information for commercial or competitive advantage or 
                private financial gain;
            (2) to be responsible for or complicit in, or to have 
        engaged in, or to have knowingly materially benefitted from, 
        the receipt or use for commercial or competitive advantage or 
        private financial gain, of funds or economic resources, trade 
        secrets, personal identifiers, intellectual property, or 
        financial information misappropriated through cyber-enabled 
        activities and with respect to which such actions are 
        reasonably likely to result in, or have materially contributed 
        to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign 
        policy, public health, or economic health or financial 
        stability of the United States;
            (3) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided 
        financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or 
        services in support of--
                    (A) any activity described in paragraphs (1) and 
                (2); or
                    (B) any person whose property or interests in 
                property are blocked pursuant to this section;
            (4) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or 
        purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, 
        any person whose property or interests in property are blocked 
        pursuant to this section; or
            (5) to have attempted to engage in any of the activities 
        described in paragraphs (1) through (3).
    (b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions to be imposed with respect 
to a foreign person described in subsection (a) are the following:
            (1) Blocking of property.--The President shall exercise all 
        of the powers granted to the President by the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except 
        that the requirements of section 202 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 
        1701) shall not apply) to the extent necessary to block and 
        prohibit all transactions in property and interests in property 
        of the person if such property and interests in property are in 
        the United States, come within the United States, or are or 
        come within the possession or control of a United States 
        person.
            (2) Inadmissibility of certain individuals.--
                    (A) Ineligibility for visas, admission, or 
                parole.--An alien who is a foreign person under 
                subsection (a), or an alien who is an officer or 
                director of a foreign person under such subsection, 
                is--
                            (i) inadmissible to the United States;
                            (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 
                        documentation to enter the United States; and
                            (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 
                        or paroled into the United States or to receive 
                        any other benefit under the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
                    (B) Current visas revoked.--An alien who is a 
                foreign person under subsection (a), or an alien who is 
                an officer or director of a foreign person under such 
                subsection, is subject to the following:
                            (i) Revocation of any visa or other entry 
                        documentation regardless of when the visa or 
                        other entry documentation is or was issued.
                            (ii) A revocation under clause (i) shall--
                                    (I) take effect immediately; and
                                    (II) cancel any other valid visa or 
                                entry documentation that is in the 
                                foreign person's or alien's possession, 
                                as the case may be.
    (c) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections (b) and 
(c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person that violates, attempts to 
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this section, 
including regulations promulgated in accordance therewith, to the same 
extent that such penalties apply to a person that commits an unlawful 
act described in section 206(a) of such Act.
    (d) Exception.--Sanctions imposed pursuant to this section shall 
not apply to an alien if admitting or paroling the alien into the 
United States is necessary to permit the United States to comply with 
the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 
at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 
1947, between the United Nations and the United States, or other 
applicable international obligations of the United States.
    (e) Exception To Comply With National Security.--The following 
activities shall be exempt from sanctions under this section:
            (1) Activities subject to the reporting requirements under 
        title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et 
        seq.).
            (2) Activities subject to any authorized intelligence or 
        law enforcement activities of the United States.
    (f) Implementation and Regulatory Authority.--The President is 
authorized to exercise all authorities provided to the President under 
sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this Act and may issue such 
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this 
Act.
    (g) Exception Related to the Importation of Goods.--
            (1) In general.--The authorities and requirements to impose 
        sanctions pursuant to this section shall not include the 
        authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the importation 
        of goods.
            (2) Good defined.--In this section, the term ``good'' means 
        any article, natural or man-made substance, material, supply or 
        manufactured product, including inspection and test equipment 
        and excluding technical data.
    (h) Report on Cyber-Enabled Activities.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 
        consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, shall 
        submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
        detailing the extent of known cyber-enabled activities or 
        attempted cyber-enabled activities as described in this section 
        by foreign persons related to the 2019 novel coronavirus and 
        whether such activities qualify for the imposition of sanctions 
        pursuant to this section.
            (2) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall 
        be unclassified but may contain a classified annex.
    (i) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Admitted; alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien'' 
        have the meanings given such terms in section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) in the House of Representatives--
                            (i) the Committee on Foreign Affairs; and
                            (ii) the Committee on Ways and Means; and
                    (B) in the Senate--
                            (i) the Committee on Foreign Relations; and
                            (ii) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
                        Urban Affairs.
            (3) Critical infrastructure sector.--The term ``critical 
        infrastructure sector'' means any of the designated critical 
        infrastructure sectors identified in Presidential Policy 
        Directive 21.
            (4) Entity.--The term ``entity'' means a partnership, 
        association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, 
        subgroup, or other organization.
            (5) Foreign government.--The term ``foreign government'' 
        means any government of a country other than the United States.
            (6) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means an 
        individual or entity that is not a United States person.
            (7) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'' with respect to 
        conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has 
        actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the 
        circumstance, or the result.
            (8) Misappropriation.--The term ``misappropriation'' means 
        any taking or obtaining by improper means, without permission 
        or consent, or under false pretenses.
            (9) Person.--The term ``person'' means an individual or 
        entity.
            (10) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means any United States citizen, permanent resident 
        alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or 
        any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign 
        branches), or any person in the United States.

SEC. 3. STOPPING TRAFFICKING IN BOTNETS.

    Section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (7), by adding ``or'' at the end; 
                and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(8) knowingly traffics in access to a protected computer, 
        if the trafficker knows the protected computer has been damaged 
        in a manner prohibited by this section.'';
            (2) in subsection (c)(3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``(a)(4) or 
                (a)(7)'' and inserting ``(a)(4), (a)(7), or (a)(8)''; 
                and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``(a)(4), or 
                (a)(7)'' and inserting ``(a)(4), (a)(7), or (a)(8)'';
            (3) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (11), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (12), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(13) the term `traffic' has the meaning given such term 
        in section 1029(e)(5) of this title.''; and
            (4) in subsection (g), by inserting ``, except for a 
        violation of subsection (a)(8),'' after ``violation of this 
        section''.

SEC. 4. INJUNCTIONS AGAINST FRAUD AND ABUSE.

    Section 1345 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the section heading by striking ``fraud'' and 
        inserting ``fraud and abuse'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) subparagraph (B), by striking ``; or'' 
                        and inserting a semicolon;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 
                        semicolon and inserting ``; or''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following 
                        new subparagraph:
                    ``(D) violating or about to violate section 
                1030(a)(5) of this title where such conduct has caused 
                or would cause damage (as defined in section 1030) 
                without authorization to 100 or more protected 
                computers (as defined in section 1030) during any 1-
                year period, including by--
                            ``(i) damage of the protected computers 
                        without authorization; or
                            ``(ii) installing or maintaining control 
                        over malicious software on the protected 
                        computers that, without authorization, have 
                        caused or would cause damage to the protected 
                        computers;''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2) by inserting ``, a violation 
                under subsection (a)(1)(D),'' after ``(as defined in 
                section 3322(d) of this title)''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c)(1) No cause of action may lie or be maintained in any court 
against any person and shall be promptly dismissed if such cause of 
action is with respect to an act that is in compliance with any 
restraining order, prohibition, or other action under subsection (b), 
if issued in circumstances described in subsection (a)(1)(D).
    ``(2) A restraining order, prohibition, or other action under 
subsection (b), if issued in circumstances described in subsection 
(a)(1)(D), may, upon application of the Attorney General, provide that 
the United States shall pay to such person a fee for reimbursement for 
such costs as are reasonably necessary and which have been directly 
incurred in complying with the restraining order, prohibition, or other 
action.''.
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