Federal Manager's Daily Report

The House has passed HR-666, creating a program at DHS aimed at protecting the department from threats by insiders who either willingly or unwittingly might do damage to people, facilities, information or other “critical assets.”

That is to begin with a baseline assessment of such threats, an examination of policies, technologies and best practices of government, industry and research institutions, a timeline for deploying “workplace monitoring technologies, employee awareness campaigns, and education and training programs” and reporting on the results.

Insider threat programs commonly include monitoring users on computer systems, training employees on indicators of suspicious behavior of others on technology and in person, and stressing to employees the importance of reporting their suspicions.

Also passed by the House was HR-697, addressing how DHS identifies positions that warrant security clearances, how it investigates candidates for clearances, and how it administers its adjudications, denials, suspensions, revocations, and appeals processes.

Similar bills passed the House, but not the Senate, in the prior Congress.