Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare

5G may seem like an unlikely battleground between China and the West. Yet the transition to 5G may mark the point, after decades of Chinese integration into a globalized economy, when Beijing’s interests diverge irreconcilably from those of the United States, the European Union, and their democratic peers. Because of a failure of imagination, Western powers risk capitulating in what has become a critical geopolitical arena.

President Donald Trump has promoted a central figure in the House impeachment inquiry who defied a subpoena to testify. Robert Blair — a top aide to acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — was named the special representative for international telecommunications policy, a position that puts Blair in a central role atop a US effort to “promote a secure and reliable global telecommunications system.” “In this new capacity, Mr. Blair will support the Administration’s 5G efforts led by the Assistant to the President for Economy Policy, Larry Kudlow,” the White House said in a statement. “Mr.

As the 2020 presidential election heats up next year, big tech will be front and center as candidates and members of Congress grapple with questions touching online privacy, antitrust, access to broadband and more. While impeachment hearings have divided the country, when it comes to the big tech issues of the day, Republicans and

Huawei's Fifth Circuit challenge to a Federal Communications Commission ban against carriers using federal subsidies to buy its equipment is unlikely to succeed, attorneys and academics watching the case say. The Communications Act gives the FCC near “plenary authority” over how it disperses more than $4 billion in subsidies aimed at furthering universal access to internet and telephone services, Philip Verveer, who served as senior counselor to former Democratic FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, said. The subsidies generally go to rural carriers to expand services in remote areas.

The Network Security Information Sharing Act (HR 4461) would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to mitigate cybersecurity threats to suppliers of telecommunications services and equipment. Under the bill, the DHS would establish a program office to share information with trusted participants in the telecommunications industry about efforts by adversaries to embed malicious software into communications equipment purchased by American companies.

With the first year of the 116th Congress coming to a close, House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) highlighted the Subcommittee’s work to restore network neutrality, combat the robocall epidemic, secure America’s telecommunications supply chain, fix faulty broadband maps, and more. The Subcommittee held 12 hearings, three markups, and passed 11 bills in 2019. Accomplishments listed include:

US technology companies have rebuffed a Trump administration request that they pledge to stop sourcing supplies from some Chinese companies, amid concerns that such a policy could break competition laws. The state department asked telecoms carriers and chipmakers to sign up to a set of principles which would have in effect shut out Huawei, and possibly others, according to three people briefed on the proposals.

The global internet has accelerated economic growth in many countries, and online-offline movements like #BlackLivesMatter, the Umbrella Movement, #MeToo, and #MarchForOurLives underscore social media’s potential to affect real change in the world.

The trade war between China and the US has centered largely on escalating tariffs. But in many rural communities, the focus has shifted to the security of networks for which Chinese giants Huawei and ZTE have long provided equipment. As the 5G future approaches, the US is pushing small carriers to rip out and replace whatever parts of their infrastructure come from China, no matter the cost.

Huawei is suing the Federal Communications Commission for choking off its sales in the United States, the latest in the besieged company’s widening efforts to hit back at regulators and critics across the globe. The FCC voted in November to bar American telecommunications companies from using federal subsidies to buy equipment from Huawei and another Chinese supplier, ZTE. Washington considers both firms to be national security risks. “The FCC claims that Huawei is a security threat.