Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare

The Catasaqua Area School District (PA) wrote to the Federal Communications Commission to withdraw from participating in the Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program. Paul Reilly, Network Manager for the school district, wrote, "While we are unable to participate at this moment, we continue to recognize the critical importance of cybersecurity funding and hope that our withdrawal may provide another school the opportunity to highlight the ongoing need for such vital support." 

Chinese officials acknowledged in a secret December 2024 meeting that Beijing was behind a widespread series of alarming cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, underscoring how hostilities between the two superpowers are continuing to escalate. The Chinese delegation linked years of intrusions into computer networks at U.S. ports, water utilities, airports and other targets, to increasing U.S.

President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum removing former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency head Christopher Krebs' security clearance. The Memorandum also directs the Attorney General to conduct a review of Krebs' activities as a government employee. "I hereby direct the heads of executive department and agencies to immediately take steps consistent with existing law to revoke any active security clearance held by Christopher Krebs.

The House Commerce Committee reported 20 pieces of legislation to the full House of Representatives including the following bills:  

In this Order on Reconsideration, the Federal Communications Commission address several petitions for reconsideration (PFRs) of the Enhanced A-CAM Order, which established the Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (Enhanced A-CAM) program as a voluntary path for supporting broadband deployment of at least 100/20 Mbps throughout the rural areas served by carriers that previously received A-CAM support and in areas served by legacy rate-of-return support recipients.  Among other requests, Petitioners encouraged the FCC to extend the Enhanced A-CAM Program’s deployment milestones by

Dizzied by an accumulated pileup of busted norms, you might have missed a presidential executive order issued on March 20. It’s called, “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos.” It basically gives the federal government the authority to consolidate all the unclassified materials from different government databases.

A recently unveiled cybersecurity labeling program for smart products might be expanded in the near future to include other equipment beyond household internet appliances, Republican Federal Communications Commissioner Nathan Simington said at an Information Technology Industry Council event. The label, known as the Cyber Trust Mark, was designed initially for consumer internet of things devices to inform shoppers that applicable products meet certain government-vetted cybersecurity standards.

Elon Musk’s social media company X has asked the Supreme Court to shield its users from US law enforcement, intervening in a case that could force the federal government to produce a warrant to access private data. In a brief filed to the high court, X said it was concerned about “broad, suspicionless” requests, adding that platforms should “not be coerced into helping governments undermine their users’ privacy.” The supporting brief comes in a long-running case brought by James Harper, a user of crypto exchange Coinbase.

Reps Rick Allen (R-GA-12) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9) introduced the Telling Everyone the Location of Data Leaving the U.S. Act (TELL Act) to protect American data from the Chinese Communist Party. The TELL Act would enable the Federal Trade Commission to endorse rules that would make it easier for Americans to know if China has compromised their data and if it is being stored, transferred, or exposed to China or companies owned by the Chinese Communist Party.

The Wireless Infrastructure Association released results from a nationwide survey of U.S. enterprise IT professionals responsible for or knowledgeable of their company’s in-building and campus wireless network deployments and plans. Highlights from the survey include: