Today: FCC LNPA Sessions, DOC/Homeland Security Preliminary Report on Action Against Botnets

FCC LNPA Sessions Announced

The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau announced that a Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA) Contingency Rollback Industry Session will be held on January 16, 2018.  Interested parties may register and find additional details for the session here. In addition, the Transition Oversight Manager (TOM) for the LNPA will host the 24th LNPA Transition Outreach and Education Plan (TOEP) webcast on January 17, 2018.  Interested parties may register for the January 17, 2018 TOEP webcast here.

DOC/Homeland Security Preliminary Report on Action Against Botnets

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a draft report the President in response to the May 11, 2017, Presidential Executive Order on strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure.  The report summarizes the opportunities and challenges in reducing botnet threats and offers supporting actions to be taken by both the government and private sector to reduce the threat of automated cyber-attacks.  The draft includes five complementary goals: (1) Identify a clear pathway toward an adaptable, sustainable, and secure technology marketplace, (2) promote innovation in the infrastructure for dynamic adaptation to evolving threats, (3) promote innovation at the edge of the network to prevent, detect, and mitigate bad behavior, (4) build coalitions between the security, infrastructure, and operational technology communities domestically and around the world, and (5) increase awareness and education across the ecosystem.

“Botnets represent a system-wide threat that no single stakeholder, not even the federal government, can address alone,” said Walter G. Copan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  The report identifies six principal themes: (1) automated, distributed attacks are a global problem, (2) effective tools exist but are not widely used, (3) products should be secured during all stages of the life cycle, (4) education and awareness are needed, (5) market incentives are misaligned, and (6) automated, distributed attacks are an ecosystem-wide challenge.  The DOC is seeking comment by February 12, 2018.  After the comment period there will be a two-day workshop on February 28, 2018 and March 1, 2018.  A final report is due back to the President on May 11, 2018.

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The Regulatory Mix, TMI’s daily blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of a TMI Briefing.