Articles

Data security risks threaten approval of Chinese undersea cable…

lead centered=”no”The US government’s “Team Telecom” wants to partially deny a proposed undersea cable connection between the US and Hong Kong over surveillance, data theft concerns./lead

On June 17, the intergovernmental group known as Team Telecom filed on behalf of the Executive Branch a recommendation to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to partially deny an undersea cable system application by a Chinese company called Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN). Team Telecom (recently renamed as the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector) consists of the Department of Homeland Security )DOH) and the Department of Defense (DOD) led by the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Foreign Investment Review Section. In its filing Team Telecom specifically urged the commission to reject that part of the application that involves a direct connection between the US and Hong Kong.

The rationale for the recommended rejection echoes similar recent moves by the Trump Administration to push Chinese technology out of the US telecommunications system and power grid supply chains. The White House, along with Team Telecom, has stepped up its arguments that China poses a digital and technology security threat, a contention that is occurring against a backdrop of soured trade negotiations and a politically deteriorating relationship between the US and China.

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

Articles

How Facebook’s privacy woes might change the rules of…

lead centered=”no”Following a string of data privacy and protection missteps, Facebook faces potential backlash from legislators and consumers that could affect all companies that process consumer data./lead

The past year has been nightmare for Facebook, breaking a decade-long streak of seemingly boundless growth that placed the internet giant at the center of social, political and commercial activities of billions of people around the globe. Facebook began its precipitous downhill turn in March when a whistleblower uncovered Facebook’s role in helping political consultancy Cambridge Analytica harvest and use the personal data of tens of millions of users without their permission.

The company was rocked by a scandal or controversy every month thereafter, not all of which were privacy related. Emerging from these scandals was a portrait of a company with a voracious appetite for monetizing users’ detailed data and sloppy management in protecting the privacy and security of that data. How the company and its regulators react to these events could have a lasting impact on how all companies manage and protect consumer data.

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