The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency lacks funding for incident response and engagement with the critical infrastructure community, despite its $2 billion budget, the agency's former Director Chris Krebs told the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday. “My biggest regret was that we were not able to plow additional resources into the ability to get out there into the field and engage critical infrastructure and engage state and local actors,” he said during a hearing on the SolarWinds attack (see 2102090076). Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the attack is “dominating the cyber conversation.” CISA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency lacks funding for incident response and engagement with the critical infrastructure community, despite its $2 billion budget, the agency's former Director Chris Krebs told the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday. “My biggest regret was that we were not able to plow additional resources into the ability to get out there into the field and engage critical infrastructure and engage state and local actors,” he said during a hearing on the SolarWinds attack (see 2102090076). Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the attack is “dominating the cyber conversation.” CISA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks' top priority for the next few weeks is ensuring as many people as possible can access the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program. He told Incompas Tuesday it could reach more low-income households and communities of color than any other program to help close the digital divide (see 2102090079). It's important to broadly publicize the program and encourage ISPs to participate, he added.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is hoping to fund an emergency maritime relief program to help unclog port congestion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and provide relief for U.S. shippers. The Maritime Transportation System Emergency Relief Program, created last year, could provide more resources to terminals that are seeing severe shortages in skilled labor and equipment, and help alleviate the nationwide backups in trucks and container vessels, House members said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau announced additional details about its upcoming roundtable on the emergency broadband benefit program in a public notice Friday (see 2101280035). All commissioners are expected to give opening remarks. The Feb. 12 event will be divided into two 50-minute Q&A panels. The first will address outreach and consumer enrollment with CTIA, Microsoft Airband, Cherokee Nation, National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Comcast, National Consumer Law Center and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council. The second panel will address broadband provider participation and "maximizing consumers' choice of robust broadband to meet their current needs" with Starry, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, AT&T, NCTA, NTCA, Navajo Nation and Next Century Cities.
DocuSign hires Cinnamon Rogers, ex-CompTIA, as its first in-house head-global government affairs ... T-Mobile hires for government affairs Will Adams, ex-FCC (see this section, Dec. 11), as vice president-strategic policy and planning; and Clint Odom, ex-National Urban League, as vice president-strategic alliances and external affairs ... NetApp hires Kristen Verderame, who was consulting for the company, as vice president-government relations ... Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) taps Public Service Commission Secretary-Chief Legal Counsel Christopher Petrie as a PSC commissioner, replacing Kara Fornstrom, who resigned for a job outside the state.
DocuSign hires Cinnamon Rogers, ex-CompTIA, as its first in-house head-global government affairs ... T-Mobile hires for government affairs Will Adams, ex-FCC (see this section, Dec. 11), as vice president-strategic policy and planning; and Clint Odom, ex-National Urban League, as vice president-strategic alliances and external affairs ... NetApp hires Kristen Verderame, who was consulting for the company, as vice president-government relations ... Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) taps Public Service Commission Secretary-Chief Legal Counsel Christopher Petrie as a PSC commissioner, replacing Kara Fornstrom, who resigned for a job outside the state.
Congress should provide billions of dollars in new funding for broadband, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said at a virtual FCBA conference Tuesday on the 25th anniversary of the Telecom Act. Some 42 million Americans still don’t have reliable broadband, “and that is a national tragedy,” he said. Too often, those left out are “brown, black and low-income,” he said. Markey is expected to soon be named Communications Subcommittee chairman (see 2101290049).
Facebook promotes Kevin Martin to global head-economic policy and hires Henry Moniz from ViacomCBS to lead the social media company’s global compliance team in a newly created job ... House Commerce Committee new ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., announces committee senior staff: Kate O’Connor remains chief counsel, Communications Subcommittee, and Tim Kurth continues as chief counsel, Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee ... Babette Boliek joined DOJ Antitrust Division Dec. 28, on detail there from her post as professor, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law.
Facebook promotes Kevin Martin to global head-economic policy and hires Henry Moniz from ViacomCBS to lead the social media company’s global compliance team in a newly created job ... House Commerce Committee new ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., announces committee senior staff: Kate O’Connor remains chief counsel, Communications Subcommittee, and Tim Kurth continues as chief counsel, Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee ... Babette Boliek joined DOJ Antitrust Division Dec. 28, on detail there from her post as professor, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law.