Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the committee’s vice chairman, have unveiled the draft of a bill that would require technology companies to help law enforcement agencies decipher encrypted data in compliance with court orders.

Burr’s office said in a release posted Wednesday the Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016 would compensate firms for costs incurred for offering technical assistance in data decryption efforts.

The proposed bill would cover software manufacturers, electronic and remote communication service providers, data storage and processing firms and device makers.

“I have long believed that data is too insecure, and feel strongly that consumers have a right to seek solutions that protect their information – which involves strong encryption,” Burr said.

“I do not believe, however, that those solutions should be above the law,” he added.

“We need strong encryption to protect personal data, but we also need to know when terrorists are plotting to kill Americans,” Feinstein said.

The draft legislation comes after the litigation between the FBI and Apple over the decryption of an iPhone used by a gunman in the December terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California.

U.S. Chief Information Officer Tony Scott said at a Passcode-hosted event Tuesday the White House could appoint a federal chief information officer within the next 30 days, The Christian Science Monitor reported Wednesday.

Jack Detsch writes Scott added the White House has identified potential candidates for the CISO position that will involve responsibility for overseeing and managing cybersecurity of federal networks.

During the Passcode forum, he also noted the government needs cybersecurity professionals who know foreign  languages and with background in the cultural anthropology and biology areas, the report said.

His remarks come five months after the Office of Personnel Management posted an opening on USAJobs for a new agency CISO to help develop and implement information technology risk reduction policies for the government’s cybersecurity programs.

The OPM CISO will also oversee data privacy initiatives as well as access and identity management activities at the agency.

Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) has said the Department of Homeland Security can serve as a resource for state and local government agencies to determine strategies against sophisticated cyber threats, GCN reported Wednesday.

Hurd told the publication he believes conversations between leaders at all levels of government are necessary to secure U.S. critical infrastructure.

He proposed a bill that calls for the DHS’ National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center to work with state and local agencies to help them address system vulnerabilities, adopt continuous diagnostic and mitigation initiatives and facilitate security training exercises.

“We can protect our civil liberties while protecting our digital infrastructure and chasing bad guys,” Hurd said in a speech to a FireEye-sponsored government forum Tuesday.

Troy Schneider reported the House passed the State and Local Cyber Protection Act in December.

A brigade combat team under the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division will be the last unit to use the Enhanced Position Location Reporting System as the service branch moves to update its communications network, the Army reported Tuesday.

EPLRS is a data networking platform designed to distribute information and report position location through the use of tactical radios.

The 1st Brigade Combat Team is scheduled to complete EPLRS divestment in February 2017 as it transitions to the Blue Force Tracker 2, Joint Battle Command-Platform and Joint Capabilities Release software platforms that work to provide soldiers with a satellite communications link characterized as beyond-line-of-sight.

“There is a huge logistical and sustainment trail that goes along with legacy systems the longer they stay out in the field,” said Lt. Col. Michael Olmstead, product manager of JBC-P under the Project Manager Mission Command.

“The more baselines – the more it costs to sustain the entire family of systems,” Olmstead added.

The service branch’s move to divest legacy systems is part of its effort to facilitate the deployment of new systems to uniformed personnel, according to the report.

The Department of Homeland Security has licensed a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory-built cyber risk assessment platform for commercial use.

DHS’ science and technology directorate handed the Physical and Cyber Risk Analysis Tool to New Mexico-based vulnerability analysis tool developer RhinoCorps as part of the Transition to Practice program of the directorate’s cybersecurity division, DHS said Wednesday.

RhinoCorps plans to integrate PACRAT with Simajin, a tool designed to assess physical network vulnerabilities, in an effort to develop a platform that works to help users evaluate their physical and cybersecurity postures.

“Securing both the physical and cyber domains are essential to securing an organization’s infrastructure and currently all assessment tools on the market only observe one or the other domain,” said Mike Pozmantier, TPP program manager.

PACRAT is the fifth cyber tool that DHS has licensed under the TPP program, which has more than 20 other platforms that are scheduled to transition into the commercial market.