Protecting Critical Infrastructure Act
The Protecting Critical Infrastructure Act would (1) raise penalties under federal computer-fraud law for offenses that involve critical infrastructure, and (2) authorize the President to impose sanctions on foreign individuals who knowingly access critical infrastructure to harm the United States. Specifically, it adds a new minimum penalty of at least 30 years in prison (or life, depending on the offense) and a fine for offenses involving critical infrastructure. It also authorizes comprehensive sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) against foreign persons who knowingly target critical infrastructure, including asset freezes and immigration-related penalties (visa denial, revocation, and inadmissibility). The act creates a regulatory framework for implementing these sanctions and provides definitions to guide enforcement. In short, the bill aims to deter and punish cyber-enabled harm to critical infrastructure both domestically (through stiffer criminal penalties) and internationally (through targeted sanctions on foreign actors).
Key Points
- 1Increase penalties for certain computer fraud offenses involving critical infrastructure
- 2- Amends 18 U.S.C. 1030(c) to add a new penalty provision: for offenses involving critical infrastructure, there shall be a fine plus imprisonment for not less than 30 years or life.
- 3Sanctions on foreign persons who knowingly access critical infrastructure to harm the U.S.
- 4- The President would determine foreign persons who knowingly access or attempt to access critical infrastructure to harm national security or safety and impose sanctions.
- 5Types of sanctions
- 6- Asset blocking: use of all authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to block and prohibit transactions in property or interests in property of the foreign person in or involving the United States.
- 7- Immigration-related penalties: visa ineligibility, visa/admission denial, and revocation of any existing visas or entry documents (with immediate effect and automatic cancellation of other valid documents).
- 8Exceptions and waivers
- 9- Sanctions have a narrow exception for foreign individuals when admitting them is necessary to comply with the United Nations Headquarters Agreement or other international obligations.
- 10- The President can grant waivers on a case-by-case basis for up to 180 days if the waiver is vital to national security interests, with certification to Congress at least 15 days before the waiver takes effect.
- 11Implementation and regulatory framework
- 12- The President would use IEEPA authorities to implement the section and issue implementing regulations within 90 days, with advance notification to Congress of the proposed regulations.
- 13Definitions and scope
- 14- Clarifies terms such as “foreign person,” “knowingly,” “property,” and “United States person,” and ties the definition of “critical infrastructure” to the term as defined in 42 U.S.C. 5195c(e) (as in Public Law 107-56).