The House Homeland Security Committee unanimously approved the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (HR-3696) Wednesday, advancing the bill to the full House. The bill, supported by both parties’ committee leadership, would codify the Department of Homeland Security’s existing public-private collaboration on cybersecurity issues without extending the agency’s powers. The bill would also allow critical infrastructure companies to seek liability protections under the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act (SAFETY) Act for cybersecurity efforts.
Federal agencies remain underprepared to defend their own information systems against most cyberthreats, said Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security Committee Tuesday. Committee Republicans, led by ranking member Tom Coburn, R-Okla., released a report outlining “real lapses by the federal government” on internal cybersecurity, even as the government has taken on a larger role in protecting the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure components. Cybersecurity experts told us that federal agencies need to improve their own cybersecurity, but said the report doesn’t give a complete picture of the situation, and risks politicizing the cybersecurity issue.
The “Pay-TV industry” should be held accountable for increasing consumer bills, said a newly formed coalition of broadcasters, broadcasting associations, affiliate groups and broadcasting related organizations, called TVfreedom.org. The group supports rules that would mandate refunds to the subscribers of multichannel video programming distributors for programming black-outs, reduce “unnecessary and questionable fees” on bills, and “protect content providers from the use of their lawful content by others without fair compensation,” a release said. Retransmission consent lets broadcasters provide their communities with “local news, as well as emergency alerts, severe weather updates, public health advisories and details on time-sensitive public safety-related incidents,” said the release. “TVfreedom.org will tell the truth about the state of the video marketplace and call out the Pay-TV industry’s inside-the-beltway gamesmanship designed solely to increase their record profits,” said TVfreedom.org Director-Public Affairs Robert Kenny in the release. Membership in the new organization includes the affiliate associations of ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS, Journal Broadcast Group, TVB, NAB, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, Bounce-TV and others. “Consumers would ultimately benefit from a system where cable and satellite TV providers fairly compensate all channels based on the ratings, popularity and quality of the programming that each channel provides to viewers,” said the new group. TVfreedom.org’s website goes live Tuesday.
The telecom market isn’t “uniformly competitive, due to the industry’s history of government-sanctioned monopolies,” Sprint warned the House in comments on overhauling the Communications Act. “While there is remarkable diversity in terms of service providers, network architectures, and customer markets, there remain key choke points that impact the operation of the entire ecosystem.” Sprint insisted any rewrite of the Communications Act “preserve and promote interconnection rights and obligations” and maintain access to “critical competitive inputs” and “carefully tailored regulatory oversight and safeguards.” It pointed to a “handful” of companies that still control the bulk of the market. Comments were due to the House Commerce Committee Friday (CD Feb 3 p8).
FirstNet is making real progress after getting off to a bumpy start, FirstNet board member Kevin McGinnis told a meeting of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council Wednesday. McGinnis, CEO of North East Mobile Health Services and a member of NPSTC, said “things are a lot further along than they were."
A GAO report released Tuesday said the Department of Homeland Security should collaborate with the emergency services sector to address the cybersecurity implications of Internet-related technologies, in a revised version of the sector’s Sector-Specific Plan. DHS, along with the FCC and the departments of Commerce, Justice and Transportation, coordinated cybersecurity-related activities with state and local governments, but that coordination had not focused on the cybersecurity of public safety entities involved in 911 calls, the report said. DHS efforts to work with emergency services did not address Internet-based information technologies, such as next-generation 911, the GAO said. Those technologies were not included because updates to the emergency services sector-specific plan weren’t set to begin until after DHS released a revised version of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan in December, the GAO said. DHS plans to complete the emergency services sector plan by December. Until that plan is completed, “information systems are at an increased risk of failure or being unavailable at critical moments,” the GAO said (http://1.usa.gov/1evFtY7).
A GAO report released Tuesday said the Department of Homeland Security should collaborate with the emergency services sector to address the cybersecurity implications of Internet-related technologies, in a revised version of the sector’s Sector-Specific Plan. DHS, along with the FCC and the departments of Commerce, Justice and Transportation, coordinated cybersecurity-related activities with state and local governments, but that coordination had not focused on the cybersecurity of public safety entities involved in 911 calls, the report said. DHS efforts to work with emergency services did not address Internet-based information technologies, such as next-generation 911, the GAO said. Those technologies were not included because updates to the emergency services sector-specific plan weren’t set to begin until after DHS released a revised version of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan in December, the GAO said. DHS plans to complete the emergency services sector plan by December. Until that plan is completed, “information systems are at an increased risk of failure or being unavailable at critical moments,” the GAO said (http://1.usa.gov/1evFtY7).
Most signs point to Dish Network emerging as the dominant winner in the H-block auction, which continued at the FCC Monday. Through 11 rounds Monday provisionally winning bids total only $415.5 million, well below Dish’s commitment to bid $1.564 billion. Meanwhile, 117 of 176 licenses had provisionally winning bids through that round. Stifel Nicolaus said the bidding is not a surprise. Under FCC rules, the commission doesn’t reveal the identify of bidders until the auction is complete.
The NATO Special Operations Headquarters and state agencies in Maryland, New York and West Virginia are among the entities that became National Network and Cyber Awareness Coalition partners during Q4, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday. The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the New York Power Authority and the State of West Virginia were the state entities. Several local governments and organizations also joined: the Chicago Police Department, the city government for Miramar, Fla., the Genessee County Drain Commission in Michigan, the North Smithfield Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency in Rhode Island and the village government for Westmont, Ill.
The NATO Special Operations Headquarters and state agencies in Maryland, New York and West Virginia are among the entities that became National Network and Cyber Awareness Coalition partners during Q4, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday. The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, the New York Power Authority and the State of West Virginia were the state entities. Several local governments and organizations also joined: the Chicago Police Department, the city government for Miramar, Fla., the Genessee County Drain Commission in Michigan, the North Smithfield Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency in Rhode Island and the village government for Westmont, Ill.