The Senate Intelligence Committee passed in July a draft bill that would prohibit the creation of a cybersecurity working group between the U.S. and Russia, Nextgov reported Friday.

The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 would require the Department of Homeland Security and intelligence agencies to develop within 90 days a plan to safeguard the country’s election systems from Russia’s future cyber interference.

A separate report on election hacking efforts by Russia and other foreign governments should also be submitted within two months, according to the proposed legislation.

The proposed bill would direct the Director of National Intelligence to facilitate sharing of classified cyber threat data with each state’s two election officers with security clearances at the top-secret level and submit an annual report on the federal government’s process used to determine whether to disclose software vulnerabilities.

The measure also calls for DHS to develop a strategic plan within six months for the implementation of bug bounties at federal agencies.

The House passed its version of the bill in July weeks after the House Intelligence Committee cleared the measure.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) has announced that the Defense Department plans to invest in directed energy systems and the investment can help create new jobs in the state.

Heinrich’s office said Wednesday the senator made the announcement during a visit to Boeing‘s facility in Albuquerque, N.M.

On the same day, he also toured a University of New Mexico laboratory focused on directed energy as well as met with university researchers and students who collaborate with the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Earlier this year, Heinrich called on Defense Secretary James Mattis and the Defense Department to allocate funds for the development of modern weapon systems such as directed energy.

“This is an area where New Mexico can make yet another significant contribution to our nation’s defense—and in the process, we can see millions of dollars of investment and many new jobs in our state,” the senator said.

The U.S. Digital Service and the General Services Administration‘s 18F organization have unveiled online tool designed to help citizens access multiple government websites using the same username and password.

The login.gov single sign-on tool is currently used for the Customs and Border Protection‘s CBP Jobs app that shows candidates their job application status, Joel Minton and Tom Mills wrote in a joint blog entry posted Tuesday.

Login.gov works to help users create their username and password then set up multifactor authentication through phone numbers or an authenticator application.

The tool is designed to also protect users’ personally identifiable information via an identity proofing process that works to confirm identities online.

USDS and 18F professionals collaborated to research the top login systems in the technology industry and carry out continuous usability tests to develop login.gov.

A unified login system will support data transfer between agencies and streamline processes managed by multiple government entities, such as the visa and immigration process, Minton and Mills noted.

USDS and 18F also plant to deploy experts to help agency developers incorporate their code with login.gov.