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Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Part A · Chapter 163 — Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation

§ 18933. Software security and authentication

Statutory text

(a)

Vulnerabilities in open source software

The Director shall assign severity metrics to identified vulnerabilities with open source software and produce voluntary guidance to assist the entities that maintain open source software repositories to discover and mitigate vulnerabilities.

(b)

Artificial intelligence-enabled defenses

The Director shall carry out research and testing to improve the effectiveness of artificial intelligence-enabled cybersecurity, including by generating optimized data sets to train artificial intelligence defense systems and evaluating the performance of varying network architectures at strengthening network security.

(c)

Authentication of Institute software

The Director shall ensure all software released by the Institute is digitally signed and maintained to enable stakeholders to verify its authenticity and integrity upon installation and execution.

(d)

Assistance to Inspectors General

Subject to available funding, the Director shall provide technical assistance to improve the education and training of individual Federal agency Inspectors General and staff who are responsible for the annual independent evaluation they are required to perform of the information security program and practices of Federal agencies under section 3555 of title 44.

(e)

Software supply chain security practices

(1)

In general

The Director shall, in coordination with industry, academia, and other Federal agencies, as appropriate, develop a set of security outcomes and practices, including security controls, control enhancements, supplemental guidance, or other supporting information to enable software developers and operators to identify, assess, and manage cybersecurity risks over the full lifecycle of software products.

(2)

Outreach

The Director shall conduct outreach and coordination activities to share technical expertise with Federal agencies, relevant industry stakeholders, and standards development organizations, as appropriate, to encourage the voluntary adoption of the software lifecycle security practices by Federal agencies and industry stakeholders.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act

    Pub. L. 117–167 div. B title II § 10224 · 136 Stat. 1366

    Enacted · 42 U.S.C. § 18933

    (Pub. L. 117–167, div. B, title II, § 10224, Aug. 9, 2022, 136 Stat. 1478.)

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    (Pub. L. 117–167, div. B, title II, § 10224, Aug. 9, 2022, 136 Stat. 1478.)

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    SEC. 10224. SOFTWARE SECURITY AND AUTHENTICATION. (a) Vulnerabilities in Open Source Software.— The Director shall assign severity metrics to identified vulnerabilities with open source software and produce voluntary guidance to assist the entities that maintain open source software repositories to discover and mitigate vulnerabilities. (b) Artificial Intelligence-enabled Defenses.— The Director shall carry out research and testing to improve the effectiveness of artificial intelligence-enabled cybersecurity, including by generating optimized data sets to train artificial intelligence defense systems and evaluating the performance of varying network architectures at strengthening network security. (c) Authentication of Institute Software.— The Director shall ensure all software released by the Institute is digitally signed and maintained to enable stakeholders to verify its authenticity and integrity upon installation and execution. (d) Assistance to Inspectors General.— Subject to available funding, the Director shall provide technical assistance to improve the education and training of individual Federal agency Inspectors General and staff who are responsible for the annual independent evaluation they are required to perform of the information security program and practices of Federal agencies under section 3555 of title 44, United States Code. (e) Software Supply Chain Security Practices.— (1) In general.— The Director shall, in coordination with industry, academia, and other Federal agencies, as appropriate, develop a set of security outcomes and practices, including security controls, control enhancements, supplemental guidance, or other supporting information to enable software developers and operators to identify, assess, and manage cybersecurity risks over the full lifecycle of software products. (2) Outreach.— The Director shall conduct outreach and coordination activities to share technical expertise with Federal agencies, relevant industry stakeholders, and standards development organizations, as appropriate, to encourage the voluntary adoption of the software lifecycle security practices by Federal agencies and industry stakeholders.

1 of 1 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Credits

(Pub. L. 117–167, div. B, title II, § 10224, , 136 Stat. 1478.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc42.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-09-09

USLM identifier /us/usc/t42/s18933