04.14.21

Scott, Murray, Hassan Respond to New Labor Department Guidance on Retirement Cybersecurity

WASHINGTON – Today, Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Labor, Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) released the following statement in response to new guidance issued by the Department of Labor for retirement plan sponsors, fiduciaries, record-keepers, and participants regarding cybersecurity.

“The Biden administration is showing they understand there is too much at stake for too many families for us to ignore the reality that cybersecurity and retirement security go hand in hand. All workers and retirees should have confidence their hard-earned savings are in fact safe. To make sure that happens, fiduciaries plans must protect families’ finances and guard against constantly evolving cybersecurity threats. We have more work ahead, but this new guidance is an important step forward when it comes to bringing our retirement policies into the 21st century.”

The announcement from the Department of Labor comes a month after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report requested by the Members looking at the risk cybersecurity threats pose to retirement plans. The report from GAO looked at the exchange of people’s personal and financial information during the administration of retirement plans and the cybersecurity risks associated with this. In the report GAO recommended the Department of Labor make clear whether fiduciaries are responsible for cybersecurity, and issue guidance on minimum expectations for mitigating cybersecurity risks. 

Read the full GAO report the Members previously requested here.

Press Contact

Democratic Press Office, 202-226-0853