FCC's Cybersecurity Assurance Meetings 'Won't Be Depositions,' Wheeler Says
The FCC is still working on the cybersecurity assurance process that the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) recommended last month in its report on suggestions for communications sector cybersecurity risk management, but assurance meetings “won’t be depositions,” said…
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FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler during a speech Tuesday. The CSRIC report was meant to adapt the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework for communications sector use (see 1503180056) “We do not envision an adversarial process in which corporate officials are cross-examined in an attempt to draw out embarrassing admissions about security lapses,” Wheeler said during an RSA Security conference, according to a prepared version of the speech released by the FCC. “The sweet spot is a process that is open, honest, and interactive, with the parties working as partners in addressing a matter of national concern.” Adequate safeguards will need to be in place to ensure that sensitive information that companies disclose during assurance meetings doesn’t go public, Wheeler said. The FCC also will need to assure companies that the information they disclose won’t be used to “generate regulatory proposals,” he said. Wheeler said information sharing will be the “biggest challenge” to implementing the CSRIC report’s recommendations, noting that the FCC has established a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center that allows the FCC to share outage information. Information sharing is “essential” and “my view is that there are no insurmountable barriers to making this work, and the public interest demands nothing less,” Wheeler said.