Crimefighting in the metaverse
Crime might seem like a fake issue to the promoters of the metaverse — the kind of thing waved around by skeptics who “don’t get it.” But consumers are already thinking about it, and so is the industry.
Crime might seem like a fake issue to the promoters of the metaverse — the kind of thing waved around by skeptics who “don’t get it.” But consumers are already thinking about it, and so is the industry.
A cyberattack targeting an underwater cable that could have shut down telephone services, financial transactions, internet and cable connectivity in Hawaii was foiled by federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations. The servers of a private Oahu company responsible for managing a trans-Pacific undersea cable that connects Hawaii and the Pacific region were targeted by an international hacking group, according to HSI, the investigative unit of the US Department of Homeland Security.
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel convened the first principals-level meeting of the recently relaunched Cybersecurity Forum for Independent and Executive Branch Regulators. The Forum consists of regulatory agencies with oversight across all sectors of the US economy.
For the second time this month, Congress has sent legislation to President Joe Biden that’s designed to keep better track of cybercrime data. The House on March 29 cleared a bill that would direct the Justice Department to collect and measure cybercrime statistics in several ways, such as a mandate for the Bureau of Justice Statistics and US Census Bureau to include questions about cybercrime on the National Crime Victimization Survey, which tallies crimes committed against people 12 and older.
The Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau added equipment and services from three entities – AO Kaspersky Lab, China Telecom (Americas) Corp, and China Mobile International USA Inc. – to its list of communications equipment and services that have been deemed a threat to national security, consistent with requirements in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019.
As Russia makes preparations to possibly disconnect from the global internet in a bid to control the narrative around the invasion of Ukraine, Lantern is rushing to lay the final pieces of an unbreakable network that the Kremlin won’t be able to take down. The company has seen staggering growth inside Russia in the last four weeks for its app that allows users to bypass restrictions the Kremlin has put in place on platforms like Facebook, Twitter
Since 2011, the KA-SAT satellite has helped homeowners, businesses, and militaries across Europe get online. However, as Russian troops moved into Ukraine during the early hours of February 24, satellite internet connections were disrupted. A mysterious cyberattack against the Viasat-owned satellite’s ground infrastructure—not the satellite itself—plunged tens of thousands of people into internet darkness. Almost a month after the attack, the disruptions continue. Thousands still remain offline in Europe and companies are racing to replace broken modems or fix connections with updates.
The Federal Communications Commission adopted an Order ending the ability of Pacific Networks Corp and its wholly-owned subsidiary, ComNet, to provide domestic interstate and international telecommunications services within the United States. The Order on Revocation and Termination directs the companies to discontinue any domestic or international services that they provide pursuant to their section 214 authority within sixty days following the release of this Order.
Tools to sidestep internet restrictions have surged in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine and the government's decision to block some social media services, including Facebook. Finding ways around Russia's internet blockade could enable its citizens to stay connected to the rest of the world and gather information from sources beyond state-owned outlets. Virtual private networks, or VPNs, enable users to hide their locations to evade location-based restrictions and make browsing more private by encrypting internet traffic.
The Federal Communications Commission released a Notice of Inquiry seeking comment on steps that the FCC should take to protect the nation's communications network from vulnerabilities posed by the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). The Department of Homeland Security warned US organizations at all levels that they could face cyber threats stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The proposal would begin an inquiry into the vulnerabilities of the Internet’s global routing system.
Legal memos filed in recent days in the case against a former lawyer for the 2016 Clinton campaign, Michael Sussmann, reignited disputes over special counsel John Durham’s continuing probe into the origins of the FBI’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Durham said in a filing that his office would show at Sussmann’s trial
The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau announced the applications filed for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. The Reimbursement Program received 181 applications and, upon initial review by the Reimbursement Program Fund Administrator, the gross cost estimate demand for Reimbursement Program support contained in the applications initially found eligible and acceptable for filing is nearly $5.6 billion.
The Federal Communications Commission announced that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will serve as Chair of the relaunched and revitalized Cybersecurity Forum for Independent and Executive Branch Regulators, a federal interagency group that shares information and expertise to enhance the cybersecurity of America’s critical infrastructure. Initially launched in 2014, the Forum has been mostly inactive for the past several years.
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel notified Congress that providers have initially requested approximately $5.6 billion from the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to cover the costs of removing, replacing, and disposing of insecure equipment and services in US networks. “We’ve received over 181 applications from carriers who have developed plans to remove and replace equipment in their networks that pose a national security threat," said Rosenworcel.
The Federal Communications Commission adopted an Order ending the ability of China Unicom (Americas) Operations Limited to provide domestic interstate and international telecommunications services within the United States. The Order on Revocation directs China Unicom Americas to discontinue any domestic or international services that it provides pursuant to its section 214 authority within sixty days following the release of the Order.
Europe is putting its foot down on how it wants the internet to run. The European Commission presented its so-called Digital Decade Principles aimed at defining the 27-country bloc’s vision of how the digital economy should abide by values such as democracy, privacy, solidarity, freedom of choice and security.
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel shared with her colleagues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would begin the process of strengthening the FCC’s rules for notifying customers and federal law enforcement of breaches of customer proprietary network information (CPNI). The updates would better align the FCC’s rules with recent developments in federal and state data breach laws covering other sectors. The proposal outlines several updates to current FCC rules addressing telecommunications carriers’ breach notification requirements. These include:
A hearing to examine strategies to strengthen the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), which establishes the roles and responsibilities of federal agencies related to the security of federal information systems and data and requires compliance with cybersecurity standards.
Three former Federal Communications Commission public safety chiefs endorsed Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] for the open Democratic commissioner slot. In a pair of letters to the Senate Commerce Committee on January 3, Jamie Barnett, David Simpson and David Turetsky — who all worked at the FCC during the Obama administration — said Sohn has strongly supported law enforcement and first responders.
The security and privacy landscape has continued to evolve since NTIA first asked about it in the 2015 Internet Use Survey. High-profile data breaches and debates about the role of technology in people’s lives have kept concerns about privacy and security in the forefront. The spread of emerging technologies such as smart home devices and always-on voice assistants, as well as business models predicated on the collection, use, and sale of personal information, means these concerns have taken on increased urgency.
President Biden opened the first-ever Summit for Democracy, a forum for leaders from around the world to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing democracies in the 21st century. These efforts will center on five areas of work crucial to the functioning of transparent, accountable governance: 1) Supporting Free and Independent Media, 2) Fighting Corruption, 3) Bolstering Democratic Reformers, 4) Advancing Technology for Democracy, and 5) Defending Free and Fair Elections and Political Processes. Specifically:
The White House is set to announce plans for its much-anticipated Alliance for the Future of the Internet, a bid to rally a coalition of democracies around a vision for an open and free web.
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