This iteration of the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council meets for the first time June 23, with Brian King, T-Mobile senior vice president-national technology service delivery and operations, at the helm, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Monday. Pai indicated in April that CSRIC was rechartered, though with less focus than it had in the past on cybersecurity (see 1704100059). The three working groups are: Transition Path to NG911, with Mary Boyd of West Safety Services as chair; Comprehensive Re-imagining of Emergency Alerting -- chaired by Farrokh Khatibi of Qualcomm; Network Reliability and Security Risk Reduction, chaired by Travis Russell of Oracle. “The CSRIC’s first meeting will introduce members of the Committee, set out initial assignments, and provide more information about the working groups,” said a public notice. The meeting starts at 1 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room. A full list of members is in the notice (and see the personals section of this issue of this publication).
The FCC ATSC 3.0 rulemaking saw more replies underscoring the sometimes contentious nature of what broadcasters hope is a switch to the next-generation standard. Earlier replies in docket 16-142 (see 1706080067) and initial comments (see 1705100072) also showed some differences among broadcasters, MVPDs and consumer electronics interests. Whether to mandate 3.0 tuners is one such issue, with CTA replying to stress the importance of not imposing tuner mandates. It was the first time in the 14-month-long proceeding that CTA commented on its own rather than jointly with NAB and the other groups that petitioned to authorize 3.0 as a voluntary, market-driven service (see 1604130065).
The Trump administration is fleshing out views on sharing spectrum between federal agencies and commercial users and some other spectrum issues, almost five months into the Donald Trump presidency. In contrast to the FCC, where Ajit Pai quickly remade the agency as exemplified by the transformed Technological Advisory Council (see 1706080031), the Trump team is coalescing, industry officials said. The administration is expected to be more skeptical about sharing, favoring exclusive-use licenses, but the White House has been quiet and its stance is apparently evolving.
The FCC’s ATSC 3.0 rulemaking gives the commission “an important opportunity to unleash innovation, not by requiring a particular type of equipment, but by facilitating voluntary industry adoption of a new technology in response to consumer demand,” CTA said Thursday in reply comments in docket 16-142. It was the first time in the 14-month-long proceeding that CTA filed comments on its own rather than jointly with NAB and the other groups that petitioned the FCC last April to authorize ATSC 3.0 as a voluntary, market-driven service (see 1604130065). CTA said it did so to independently stress to the commission the importance of not imposing tuner mandates.
The Trump administration is fleshing out views on sharing spectrum between federal agencies and commercial users and some other spectrum issues, almost five months into the Donald Trump presidency. In contrast to the FCC, where Ajit Pai quickly remade the agency as exemplified by the transformed Technological Advisory Council (see 1706080031), the Trump team is coalescing, industry officials said. The administration is expected to be more skeptical about sharing, favoring exclusive-use licenses, but the White House has been quiet and its stance is apparently evolving.
David Redl emerged generally unscathed from his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday for the position of NTIA administrator. “Very smooth hearing, very fast, I was surprised at how fast it went,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., in an interview about the session, which considered three nominees and lasted under 90 minutes. Redl faced no attacks. Commerce will vote on Redl’s nomination “hopefully soon,” Thune said.
David Redl emerged generally unscathed from his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday for the position of NTIA administrator. “Very smooth hearing, very fast, I was surprised at how fast it went,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., in an interview about the session, which considered three nominees and lasted under 90 minutes. Redl faced no attacks. Commerce will vote on Redl’s nomination “hopefully soon,” Thune said.
Cybersecurity, including prevention of data breaches and ransomware threats, has become a top priority for the Department of Health and Human Services, officials plan to tell the House Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations at a hearing Thursday. Emery Csulak, chief information security officer with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Steve Curren, director-division of resilience within HHS' Office of Emergency Management; and HHS Chief Information Officer Leo Scanlon jointly submitted prepared testimony. Since 2014, the healthcare and public health sector has been hit with breaches, with a rise in ransomware attacks last year, they will tell lawmakers. "These attacks shifted the threat landscape considerably, as they no longer threatened just personal information but also the ability of health care organizations to provide patient care." Partnerships across HHS, government and private sectors helped provide expertise to fight the threat, they plan to say. In response to the WannaCry ransomware attack (see 1705180032, 1705160038, 1705160008 and 1705150008), which hit hospitals in the U.K. (see 1705120055), HHS worked with the Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center to develop an "immediate response" to help the healthcare sector's security experts respond to and report the WannaCry intrusions, they say. This was the first time HHS organized itself to respond to a cybersecurity incident, setting a standard, they say. Working groups and initiatives are underway to improve cybersecurity across the department and health sector, according to the testimony, citing HHS' Healthcare Cybersecurity Communications Integration Center aimed at improving collaboration among entities and strengthen reporting and threat awareness. The center helped coordinate the WannaCry response, the officials say. On May 11, a government-driven healthcare industry cybersecurity task force released a report with recommendations on improving protections across agencies, the HHS officials note. Recommendations include that improvements are needed in the security and resilience of medical devices and health IT, healthcare workers and industry need to be more aware of cybersecurity and make it a priority, and there should be greater information sharing.
Cybersecurity, including prevention of data breaches and ransomware threats, has become a top priority for the Department of Health and Human Services, officials plan to tell the House Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations at a hearing Thursday. Emery Csulak, chief information security officer with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Steve Curren, director-division of resilience within HHS' Office of Emergency Management; and HHS Chief Information Officer Leo Scanlon jointly submitted prepared testimony. Since 2014, the healthcare and public health sector has been hit with breaches, with a rise in ransomware attacks last year, they will tell lawmakers. "These attacks shifted the threat landscape considerably, as they no longer threatened just personal information but also the ability of health care organizations to provide patient care." Partnerships across HHS, government and private sectors helped provide expertise to fight the threat, they plan to say. In response to the WannaCry ransomware attack (see 1705180032, 1705160038, 1705160008 and 1705150008), which hit hospitals in the U.K. (see 1705120055), HHS worked with the Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center to develop an "immediate response" to help the healthcare sector's security experts respond to and report the WannaCry intrusions, they say. This was the first time HHS organized itself to respond to a cybersecurity incident, setting a standard, they say. Working groups and initiatives are underway to improve cybersecurity across the department and health sector, according to the testimony, citing HHS' Healthcare Cybersecurity Communications Integration Center aimed at improving collaboration among entities and strengthen reporting and threat awareness. The center helped coordinate the WannaCry response, the officials say. On May 11, a government-driven healthcare industry cybersecurity task force released a report with recommendations on improving protections across agencies, the HHS officials note. Recommendations include that improvements are needed in the security and resilience of medical devices and health IT, healthcare workers and industry need to be more aware of cybersecurity and make it a priority, and there should be greater information sharing.
Cybersecurity, including prevention of data breaches and ransomware threats, has become a top priority for the Department of Health and Human Services, officials plan to tell the House Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations at a hearing Thursday. Emery Csulak, chief information security officer with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Steve Curren, director-division of resilience within HHS' Office of Emergency Management; and HHS Chief Information Officer Leo Scanlon jointly submitted prepared testimony. Since 2014, the healthcare and public health sector has been hit with breaches, with a rise in ransomware attacks last year, they will tell lawmakers. "These attacks shifted the threat landscape considerably, as they no longer threatened just personal information but also the ability of health care organizations to provide patient care." Partnerships across HHS, government and private sectors helped provide expertise to fight the threat, they plan to say. In response to the WannaCry ransomware attack (see 1705180032, 1705160038, 1705160008 and 1705150008), which hit hospitals in the U.K. (see 1705120055), HHS worked with the Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center to develop an "immediate response" to help the healthcare sector's security experts respond to and report the WannaCry intrusions, they say. This was the first time HHS organized itself to respond to a cybersecurity incident, setting a standard, they say. Working groups and initiatives are underway to improve cybersecurity across the department and health sector, according to the testimony, citing HHS' Healthcare Cybersecurity Communications Integration Center aimed at improving collaboration among entities and strengthen reporting and threat awareness. The center helped coordinate the WannaCry response, the officials say. On May 11, a government-driven healthcare industry cybersecurity task force released a report with recommendations on improving protections across agencies, the HHS officials note. Recommendations include that improvements are needed in the security and resilience of medical devices and health IT, healthcare workers and industry need to be more aware of cybersecurity and make it a priority, and there should be greater information sharing.