Chris Riotta reports: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted Wednesday along party lines to update 16-year-old privacy protection rules and expand breach notification requirements as part of an effort to provide law enforcement and the public with real-time information about harmful data breaches. The new rule expands the scope of the FCC’s breach notification requirements…
Category: Federal
AHA opposes HHS’ plan for cybersecurity fines
Naomi Diaz reports: The American Hospital Association said HHS’ plan to levy financial penalties in the event of a cyberattack on a healthcare organization would be counterproductive. In a Dec. 6 statement, the AHA said it is advocating for the HHS to review its proposal that requires healthcare organizations to be compliant with new cybersecurity requirements and…
Ted Cruz wants to stop the FCC from updating data-breach notification rules
Jon Brodkin reports: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and other Republican senators are fighting a Federal Communications Commission plan to impose new data-breach notification requirements on telecom providers. In a letter sent to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel today, the senators claim the pending FCC action would violate a congressional order. The letter was sent by Cruz, Sen. Minority…
White House cyber director confirmed in Senate
Martin Matishak reports: The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Harry Coker to be the country’s next cybersecurity czar, installing the former NSA official as President Joe Biden’s top cyber adviser at a time when the administration is working to revamp the nation’s digital posture. As the new head of the Office of the National Cyber Director,…
FCC Partners With States to Increase on Privacy and Data Protection Investigations, Signaling Increased Focus on Future Enforcement
Jonathan P. Garvin of Mintz writes: The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced Thursday that in furtherance of the work of the agency’s Privacy and Data Protection Task Force, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau signed Memoranda of Understanding (“MOU”) with the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania to share expertise and resources and to coordinate efforts conducting…
FBI explains how companies can delay SEC cyber incident disclosures
Jonathan Greig and Martin Matishak report: The FBI has published guidance on how companies can request a delay in disclosing cyber incidents to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The document is a followup to new rules that the SEC approved in June requiring companies to quickly disclose “material” cybersecurity incidents and share the details of their…