S.B. No. 1696
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to establishing a system for the sharing of information
  regarding cyber attacks or other cybersecurity incidents occurring
  in schools in this state.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Section 11.175, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 11.175.  SCHOOL [DISTRICT] CYBERSECURITY.
         SECTION 2.  Section 11.175, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsections (g), (h), and (i) to
  read as follows:
         (e)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school
  [The district's cybersecurity coordinator] shall report to the
  agency or, if applicable, the entity that administers the system
  established under Subsection (g) any cyber attack or other
  cybersecurity incident against the school district's or
  open-enrollment charter school's [district] cyberinfrastructure
  that constitutes a breach of system security as soon as practicable
  after the discovery of the attack or incident.
         (g)  The agency, in coordination with the Department of
  Information Resources, shall establish and maintain a system to
  coordinate the anonymous sharing of information concerning cyber
  attacks or other cybersecurity incidents between participating
  schools and the state.  The system must:
               (1)  include each report made under Subsection (e);
               (2)  provide for reports made under Subsection (e) to
  be shared between participating schools in as close to real time as
  possible; and
               (3)  preserve a reporting school's anonymity by
  preventing the disclosure through the system of the name of the
  school at which an attack or incident occurred.
         (h)  In establishing the system under Subsection (g), the
  agency may contract with a qualified third party to administer the
  system.
         (i)  The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
  implement this section.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1696 passed the Senate on
  April 20, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays 3; and that
  the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 29, 2021, by the
  following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 4.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1696 passed the House, with
  amendment, on May 26, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 146,
  Nays 0, one present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor