Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “American Cybersecurity Literacy Act of 2021”.
American Cybersecurity Literacy Act
A BILL
To establish a cybersecurity literacy campaign, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Sense of Congress
It is the sense of the Congress that the United States has a national security and economic interest in promoting cybersecurity literacy amongst the general public.
Sec. 3 Establishment of cybersecurity literacy campaign
In general— The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall, in consultation with the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security, develop and conduct a cybersecurity literacy campaign to increase the knowledge and awareness of people in the United States of best practices to reduce cybersecurity risks.
Elements— In carrying out subsection (a), the Director of the Institute shall—
identify the critical areas of an information technology system that presents cybersecurity risks and educate people in the United States on how to prevent and mitigate such risks by—
instructing such people on how to identify—
phishing emails; and
secure websites;
instructing such people on the need to change default passwords on hardware and software technology;
encouraging the use of cybersecurity tools, including—
multi-factor authentication;
complex passwords;
firewalls; and
anti-virus software;
identifying the devices that could pose possible cybersecurity risks, including—
personal computers;
smartphones;
tablets;
Wi-Fi routers; and
smart home appliances;
encouraging such people to—
regularly review mobile application permissions;
decline privilege requests from mobile applications that are unnecessary;
download applications only from trusted vendors or sources; and
connect internet of things or devices to a separate and dedicated network; and
identifying the potential cybersecurity risks of using publicly available Wi-Fi networks and the methods a user may utilize to limit such risks; and
direct people and businesses in the United States to Federal resources to help mitigate the cybersecurity risks identified in this subsection.