Legislation authorizing a national cybersecurity literacy campaign to increase the public’s awareness and knowledge of how to reduce cybersecurity risks was unanimously approved by the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce in March.
The ABA-supported bill, H.R.1360, the American Cybersecurity Literacy Act, would require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency in the Department of Commerce, to launch a campaign warning the public about cyber risks and provide specifics on how to mitigate the risks.
In a March 30, 2023, letter to Committee leaders, ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross expressed the organization’s support of the measure, writing that “The ABA has long recognized that public and private entities must make it a priority to identify potential cybersecurity risks in a variety of devices and formats and educate individual Americans on the resources necessary to mitigate any cybersecurity risk or loss should it occur.”
President Enix-Ross also cited ABA policy, adopted by the House of Delegates in 2020, which urges governmental and private entities to “promote digital literacy, civic education and public awareness to build societal resilience to domestic and foreign malign disinformation operations.”