Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare

I am ordering additional actions to improve our Nation’s cybersecurity, focusing on defending our digital infrastructure, securing the services and capabilities most vital to the digital domain, and building our capability to address key threats, including those from the People’s Republic of China.  Improving accountability for software and cloud service providers, strengthening the security of Federal communications and identity management systems, and promoting innovative developments and the use of emerging technologies for cybersecurity across executive departments and agencies (agencie

Following recent reports involving an intrusion by foreign actors into U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission selected 707 participants for the Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program, including 645 schools and districts, 50 libraries, and 12 consortia. Participants in the three-year pilot program will receive support to defray the costs of eligible cybersecurity services and equipment and provide the FCC with data to better understand whether and how universal service funds could be used to improve school and library defenses against increasing cyberattacks.

The Biden-Harris Administration released an Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion. It streamlines licensing hurdles for both large and small chip orders, bolsters U.S. AI leadership, and provides clarity to allied and partner nations about how they can benefit from AI. It builds on previous chip controls by thwarting smuggling, closing other loopholes, and raising AI security standards. Six key mechanisms in the rule catalyze the responsible diffusion of U.S. technology: 

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel called for the agency to quickly adopt rules that will allow the FCC to proceed with a spectrum auction to fully fund the removal, replacement, and disposal of insecure Chinese-made Huawei and ZTE equipment and services from U.S. networks without further delay.  The recently passed National Defense Authorization Act provides essential funding for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement (or “Rip and Replace”) Program by giving the FCC authority to auction AWS-3 spectrum licenses in its inventory.

On December 31, 2024, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel released a note reflecting on the agency's work over the course of 2024. "The end of the year is always a time for reflection," Chairwoman Rosenworcel said. "That’s especially true for me in 2024 as my service at the Federal Communications Commission is coming to a close. It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role and a special privilege to be the first woman confirmed to do so." The Chairwoman categorized her time at the FCC into five core values:

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) and the Office of Managing Director (OMD) announced that on December 23, 2024, the Spectrum and Secure Technology and Innovation Act of 2024 was signed into law as part of the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (2025 NDAA).

This week, Congress passed the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, this year's version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The law authorizes $895.2 billion for Department of Defense programs, defense-related activities, and national security programs in the Department of Energy and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.

I applaud Congress for fully funding the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. In 2019, I convened a first-of-its-kind workshop at the Federal Communications Commission to consider security threats that stem from the presence of Chinese communications equipment in U.S. networks.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear TikTok’s challenge to a law that could ban its U.S. operations, putting the case on an exceptionally fast track, culminating in oral arguments at a special session on Jan. 10. In setting aside two hours for the argument, the justices signaled that they viewed the case as presenting questions of exceptional importance. The move came only two days after TikTok and its Chinese parent company filed an emergency application.