NARUC Panelists Back Monitoring Networks, Testing Equipment for Cyberattacks
There are alternatives to Congress and the FCC requiring carriers and others to remove from their networks equipment made by Chinese telecom gear makers, NARUC was told in Indianapolis. Though some state commissioners later expressed skepticism, industry panelists (see 1:30…
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p.m. event listing) largely backed monitoring networks of U.S. companies for cyberattacks, including from Huawei or ZTE, and testing all equipment before installation for vulnerabilities. Stakeholders generally want testing and monitoring across the board, not limited to one company or manufacturers based in one country. Huawei might pay for such checks for its equipment, as it has elsewhere, suggested Andrew Lipman of Morgan Lewis on the panel and speaking with us later. He said that's what the company proposed in earlier FCC comments on a national security NPRM including on what can be funded by USF. "The FCC is not the right agency" and "doesn’t have appropriate jurisdiction," Lipman said. Huawei wants "a holistic solution to cybersecurity rather than identifying and treating companies" specifically, he said. Lipman, like other panelists, said he was commenting only for himself. "We need monitoring, not just of ZTE or Huawei, but of any network in the country," Rural Wireless Association General Counsel Carri Bennet said of cybersecurity concerns. "All kinds of devices are going to be connected to these broadband networks, and any one of them could be used to launch attacks." Third-party cybersecurity services providers would always be watching networks. Panelists said they think the FCC should do more to first find what the dangers are and said vulnerabilities could spring from gear made elsewhere, not just China. To a question on whether monitoring may not detect a cyber breach until it's already begun, Bennet said RWA is working with a company that may be able to quickly raise a warning. Office of Ohio Consumers' Counsel Assistant Consumers' Counsel David Bergmann, speaking for himself, said it doesn't matter from where an attack originates, "it's going to come." He said that's why "preparing for the crisis is so vital" as shown by an emergency-event simulation the previous day. The exercise facilitator had noted a cyberattack could have a major impact.