Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare

Facebook has a four-part plan to protect its platform from malicious attacks during the 2018 US midterm elections:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation did not exhaust possible solutions to unlock an iPhone connected to a gunman involved in a late-2015 shooting spree before seeking a court order to compel Apple to help access the device, a US Justice Department internal watchdog said. The conclusion may pose challenges for the Trump Administration in possible future litigation to force companies to help crack into encrypted devices.

President Donald Trump has extended the cyber attack national emergency, which was declared by President Barack Obama in April 2015 but would have terminated April 1, 2018, while elsewhere on the broadband front, the White House was promoting efforts by Republicans in Congress to further broadband infrastructure buildouts, which the Administration has said are a priority inrural areas. In December 2018, President Trump issued an executive order with added steps to address that cybersecurity emergency.

In a letter to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rob Portman (R-OH), Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said that there is little the FCC can do to prevent public comments filed under false names, or under stolen identities or to prevent mass bogus filings in what is meant to be an open, public, process.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai shared with his fellow Commissioners a proposal to help address national security threats to US communications networks and their supply chains. Specifically, the draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, if adopted, would propose to bar the use of money from the FCC’s Universal Service Fund to purchase equipment or services from companies that pose a national security threat to United States communications networks or the communications supply chain. Chairman Pai will call for a vote on this proposal at the Commission’s April 17 meeting.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said he shares the concerns of lawmakers about espionage threats from Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies and plans to take “proactive steps” to ensure the integrity of the US communications supply chain. In a March 20 letter to lawmakers, Chairman Pai offered no specifics on his future actions. He said the FCC does not purchase or use Huawei or ZTE products or equipment, “and I do not expect that would change if a major US communications company partnered with Huawei.”

Apparently, the Federal Communications Commission is considering a new rule to further curb the US business of Huawei Technologies, making it harder for small and rural carriers to purchase gear from Chinese telecom-equipment makers. Such a move would further escalate the government’s recent campaign against the cellular-technology giant and its Chinese peers over what the Trump administration says are national-security concerns.

The Trump administration announced sanctions and criminal indictments against an Iranian hacker network it said was involved in “one of the largest state-sponsored hacking campaigns” ever prosecuted by the United States, targeting hundreds of US and foreign universities, as well as dozens of US companies and government agencies, and the United Nations. None of the alleged hackers were direct employees of the Iranian government, but all worked at the behest of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, officials said.

The Trump administration imposed fresh financial sanctions on Russian government hackers and spy agencies to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 presidential election, and for a cyberattack against Ukraine and other countries that officials have characterized as “the most destructive and costly” in history. Sanctions also were imposed on individuals known as “trolls” and the Russian organizations that supported their efforts to undermine the election. Additionally, the administration alerted the public that Russia is targeting the U.S.

The House Communications Subcommittee held a hearing continuing its oversight role of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke to the need to maintain America’s status as a global leader in wireless technologies. In his opening remarks, full Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) stressed the importance of accurate broadband mapping in efforts to expand broadband internet access. David Redl, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, NTIA, U.S.