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18 new cybersecurity bills introduced as US congressional interest…

The new bills, many with bi-partisan support, aim to increase cybersecurity funding, improve breach reporting, investigate cryptocurrencies, and more.

The series of alarming cybersecurity incidents that spurred the Biden Administration to take swift action during its first six months has also prompted the US Congress to introduce new cybersecurity bills. In the little more than two months since CSO reported on what was then a busy Congressional cybersecurity agenda, lawmakers have introduced at least 18 additional bills to shore up and expand the nation’s cybersecurity capabilities.

In a sign that cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly higher legislative priority, the pace of Congress’ interest in a range of digital security matters seems to be accelerating. Last week alone, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted to advance six bills that primarily deal with digital security and two other bills that contain significant cybersecurity provisions.

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.

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Senate subcommittee blasts FCC and Team Telecom approach to…

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A report claims that oversight of Chinese telecoms for security threats to the US communications supply chain is lacking and without adequate authority.
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The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released on Tuesday a report, “Threats to US Networks: Oversight of Chinese Government-owned Carriers.” The document slams the current government review process that oversees how Chinese telecom companies operate in the United States for not rigorously monitoring Chinese tech providers. It outlines a Senate investigation that began shortly after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in May 2019 denied a China Mobile USA application to provide international telecom services.

The subcommittee said it reviewed more than 6,400 pages of documents and conducted more than ten interviews, including interviews with representatives from the FCC, Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), China Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas, ComNet, AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink. The subcommittee also said it met with researchers who analyzed the Chinese government’s use of telecommunications carriers to hijack communications.

The subcommittee’s investigation found that the FCC and “Team Telecom,” a formerly informal group composed of representatives from the DOJ, DHS and Department of Defense, have failed to adequately monitor three Chinese government-owned carriers, China Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas, and ComNet since they began operating in the United States in the early 2000s.

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.

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New cybersecurity recommendations for US government target IoT, social…

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The COVID-19 pandemic spurs the Cyberspace Solarium Commission policy initiative to issue a set of four security recommendations for the federal government in the wake of the crisis.
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The Cyberspace Solarium Commission is a unique policy initiative created in 2019 to cut through the complexity of the vast and dense cybersecurity challenges facing the country. It is composed of lawmakers and government officials from across several agencies who, working with outside experts, are devising “a strategic approach to defending the United States in cyberspace against cyberattacks of significant consequences.” The high-profile focal point group came out this spring with an ambitious report that offered 75 recommendations to keep the country safe from digital threats.

Last week, the commission took its prerogative one step further. It came out with its first white paper, Lessons from the Pandemic, a timely document articulating the changes the COVID-19 crisis creates for cybersecurity. The pandemic “illustrates the challenges of ensuring resilience and continuity in a connected world,” co-chairs Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI), wrote in their executive summary of the white paper.

The white paper contains observations about the parallel connections between cybersecurity and the pandemic. It stresses 32 of the commission’s original recommendations, which King and Gallagher said have attained “renewed importance” in light of the coronavirus crisis.

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.

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Cyber LEAP Act aims for innovations through Cybersecurity Grand…

lead centered=”no”New bill seeks to set up competitions across the US to spur security breakthroughs./lead

The Senate Commerce Committee approved last week what could prove to be an essential piece of legislation for cybersecurity researchers: The Cybersecurity Competitions to Yield Better Efforts to Research the Latest Exceptionally Advanced Problems, or Cyber LEAP Act of 2020. Sponsored by Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), the bill establishes a national series of Cybersecurity Grand Challenges so that the country can “achieve high-priority breakthroughs in cybersecurity by 2028.”

The challenges set up under the legislation will offer prizes, including cash and non-cash prizes, to competition winners, although the prizes aren’t yet spelled out. The legislation directs the secretary of commerce to set up the competitions in six key areas:

Economics of a cyber attack, focused on building more resilient systems while raising the costs for adversaries
Cyber training, to give Americans digital security literacy and boost the skills of the cyber workforce
Emerging technology, to advance cybersecurity knowledge in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence
Reimagining digital identity, aimed at protecting the digital identities of US internet users
Federal agency resilience, to reduce cybersecurity risks to federal networks and improve the federal response to cyberattacks
Other challenges as determined by the secretary of commerce

This article appeared in CSO Online. To read the rest of the article please visit here.