Cybersecurity emphasized in defense authorization bill

Numerous cybersecurity provisions have been included in the final 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which is expected to be voted upon by Congress in the coming days, according to CyberScoop. Cyber Command will be given $44 million of the $858 billion funding of the defense bill to strengthen its "hunt forward" missions for engaging with cyber adversaries. Such operations have already been conducted by the Cyber Command in at least 35 countries, including Ukraine, Lithuania, and Estonia. The Cyber Command will also be mandated by the NDAA to issue a biennial unclassified report on its election security efforts through the 2032 elections. Moreover, the Department of Defense will see the creation of an assistant secretary of cyber policy post, while the defense secretary will be directed to annually inform lawmakers regarding the collaboration between Cyber Command and the National Security Agency. FedRAMP reform has also been included in the NDAA, which also contains provisions on commercial spyware usage by U.S. intelligence. However, an amendment for software bill of materials codification has been excluded following industry opposition.