Warner proposes bill to force CISA updates to critical infrastructure cybersecurity plans amid AI-driven threats
Publish Date: 2026-06-12 05:21:00
Source Domain: industrialcyber.co
A U.S. Senator introduced a bill that would require the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to update cybersecurity plans across all critical infrastructure sectors and assess emerging technology-driven risks. Titled ‘Combat Emerging Threats to Critical Infrastructure Act of 2026,’ the legislation comes amid growing concerns that advances in AI (artificial intelligence) could accelerate cyberattacks against essential services and critical infrastructure. Warner said the measure is intended to ensure that government, industry, regulators, and cybersecurity experts regularly refresh defensive plans to address increasingly sophisticated threats, including those enabled by AI.
Under legislation introduced by Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, CISA would update sector-specific cybersecurity plans within nine months, provide the revised plans to Congress, and conduct reviews every two years. The legislation would also require assessments of technology-facilitated risks across each critical infrastructure sector, including AI-enhanced cyberattacks, AI supply chain vulnerabilities, deepfakes, robotics-related threats, and quantum-enabled attacks on cryptography. Warner noted that many sector cybersecurity plans have not been updated for years, with some dating back more than a decade despite existing requirements for regular revisions.
“As AI continues to rapidly evolve, we must ensure our cybersecurity defenses keep up with the threats of the moment,” Warner said in a media statement this week. “It’s critical that government works closely with industry, regulators, and cybersecurity experts to develop and regularly update the plans we need to protect our critical infrastructure from increasingly sophisticated malicious actors, including those enabled by AI.”
The Combat Emerging Threats to Critical Infrastructure Act of 2026 would require CISA, in coordination with the appropriate Sector Risk Management Agencies…
