Hill Seeks FCC Info on Set-Top Cybersecurity

The Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees have asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to explain whether and how the commission took cybersecurity into account when coming up with its set-top proposal. The FCC's Democratic majority voted Feb 19 to propose requiring pay-TV providers to make their programming streams and set-top data available to third parties.

In a letter to Chairman Wheeler, the legislators pointed to the voluntary National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, saying it was "unclear" how some of the FCC proposals aligned with those recommended practices or how multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) can monitor them on third-party devices attached to their networks. They did not take aim at the proposal but asked for information to better understand how and whether the FCC took the NIST protections into account. For example, they asked how the proposal insures that third-party device manufacturers and software developers are providing adequate security and whether it addresses the potential economic harms to content creators and network infrastructure from cyberattacks. They gave the FCC until June 10 to weigh in.