Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., is drafting a mandatory cyber breach reporting bill with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and John Cornyn, R-Texas, they told us this week. Ranking member Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also expressed interest. He said there’s a future for such legislation, after the Russia-linked SolarWinds hack (see 2102230064).
Russia export controls and sanctions
The use of export controls and sanctions on Russia has surged since the country's invasion of Crimea in 2014, and especially its invasion of Ukraine in in February 2022. Similar export controls and sanctions have been imposed by U.S. allies, including the EU, U.K. and Japan. The following is a listing of recent articles in Export Compliance Daily on export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia:
House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, wants to legislate access to personal Whois data, he told us (see 2008270055). Stakeholders concerned with intellectual property, online security, law enforcement and other interests said in interviews that Congress must take control of the debate because ICANN can't resolve the issue.
Cyber notification requirements are a legislative priority, said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y., Friday during a virtual hearing on the SolarWinds breach. They echoed interest from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, at a hearing earlier in the week (see 2102230064).
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, suggested Tuesday it might be time for legislation on mandatory notification requirements for cyberattacks. Microsoft and FireEye executives agreed with the suggestion, which would include liability protection, during a hearing on the SolarWinds breach (see 2102180043).
Viasat, Russian telco TMC and Russian satellite operator Gazprom Space Systems partnered to provide aeronautical connectivity to Russian and international airlines when flying into and over Russian space, Viasat said Wednesday: This starts with Viasat procuring Ku-band capacity on Gazprom's Yamal-401.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency lacks funding for incident response and engagement with the critical infrastructure community, despite its $2 billion budget, the agency's former Director Chris Krebs told the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday. “My biggest regret was that we were not able to plow additional resources into the ability to get out there into the field and engage critical infrastructure and engage state and local actors,” he said during a hearing on the SolarWinds attack (see 2102090076). Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the attack is “dominating the cyber conversation.” CISA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
The commercial space industry is no longer solely dependent on government, Quilty Analytics President Chris Quilty said Tuesday during the Space Foundation's annual "state of space" seminar. He said it's benefiting from "some of the best fundamentals we've seen in decades," with a favorable regulatory environment, good tech trends in launch and phased array antennas, and small-satellite development. He also cited "dramatic improvement" in funding opportunities, particularly from venture capital. He said satellite demand is shifting "dramatically" from geostationary to non-geostationary orbit. China is now "unambiguously" the U.S.' chief space rival, surpassing Russia, he said. Quilty said this could be "the year of the first launch" with numerous launch vehicles due to take maiden flights, and also should be the year SpaceX's Starlink broadband constellation goes to wide commercial availability. Hurdles facing the space industry include a workforce shortage and skills deficit, said Tom Zelibor, Space Foundation CEO. Former NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan said commercial earth observation is facing a "best of times/worst of times set of tensions." She mentioned numerous new companies and technologies and questions about ensuring the ongoing existence of data streams that are important for climate outlooks and weather forecasting but don't necessarily have commercial value.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee is investigating the SolarWinds cyberattack and exploring a potential hearing, Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., told us: “We’re going to do an investigation, look into that and look at a potential hearing.” Microsoft, Google, FireEye and several federal agencies were potentially exposed in the Russia-linked attack (see 2101190067).
Expect increased agency oversight and a concerted effort to update antitrust laws in 2021, said Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Wednesday at a Public Knowledge virtual event. Facebook Oversight Board Member Jamal Greene said to expect the board’s first content moderation decisions “within days,” on a panel at the State of the Net (SoTN) virtual conference.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, is circulating online content-related legislation for potentially addressing civil rights violations in housing markets, Fordham University law professor Olivier Sylvain said Tuesday at the State of the Net conference. Hirono has been in discussions with Virginia Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine about Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 1908060064). Her office didn’t comment about a potential bill.