Tech companies need to build mobile devices that allow police “lawful access by design” and strike a better balance in the end-to-end encryption debate, FBI Science & Technology Branch Section Chief Katie Noyes said Thursday. The longstanding debate is over law enforcement’s desire to create backdoors into encrypted devices (see 2004060064). Companies should be thinking about statutes that allow lawful access during the design phase, not when products have already been deployed, she said during a Center for Data Innovation livestream.
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:
A change in TikTok ownership wouldn’t solve the "problem" with the platform because it wouldn’t “impose any new restrictions on data flows or access,” TikTok said in a statement Friday.
The Georgia House Homeland Security Committee passed by voice vote Wednesday a bill that would ban state employees and students from installing and using apps like TikTok on state-owned devices. Introduced by Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R), SB-93 mirrors a decision from Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who issued an order in December banning the Chinese-owned social media app on state devices. The legislation is more broad, however, as it targets any apps owned by “foreign adversaries,” as defined by the federal government and recognized by the White House. The White House’s list of foreign adversaries includes China, Russia and Iran. The bill includes a carve-out that would allow access to the platform for law enforcement, research, legislative and judicial proceedings. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) recommended the carve-out. SB-93 was discussed before the full committee last week and before a subcommittee Tuesday. Anavitarte said he had discussions with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., about congressional efforts to eliminate the app in the U.S. This conversation isn’t going away in Georgia or at the national level, said Anavitarte, calling it a national security issue. Rep. Jordan Ridley (D) asked him how common the use of TikTok and other adversarial apps is on state devices. Anavitarte said he didn’t have an exact figure but noted intelligence officials say it takes only one device to make the state vulnerable. Several panel members, including Anavitarte, mistakenly referred to TikTok’s parent company ByteDance as DanceByte.
Communications sector officials voiced elevated concerns Wednesday about the prospects that the FCC’s spectrum auction authority might expire Thursday night, before a planned floor showdown between Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and other Senate officials over dueling proposals to extend the mandate (see 2303080045).
TikTok’s popularity with young Americans isn’t a good reason to not take strong action against the popular Chinese-owned social media app, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday. A day earlier the White House announced support for bipartisan legislation to authorize the Commerce Department to effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and more than 10 senators backed the bill.
Defending critical infrastructure is the administration’s top national cybersecurity priority, President Joe Biden announced Thursday, releasing the administration’s strategy.
SpaceX and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. were the busiest launchers in Q4 2022, with 18 launches each, BryceTech said Tuesday. SpaceX launched 342 vehicles in those missions, and CASC did 27, it said. Next busiest was Russia's Roscosmos, with nine launches, it said. U.S. launch providers had 25 missions in Q4, compared with China's 22, BryceTech said.
There's a lot of government interest in fortifying U.S. internet traffic routing security, but it's less clear what it can and should do, said Wilkinson Barker cybersecurity lawyer Clete Johnson Tuesday on an FCBA cybersecurity committee webinar. Noting the FCC's open proceeding on routing security that was launched in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he said routing security doesn't line up well with traditional regulatory tools and their focus on prescriptive compliance. Johnson said the complexity of the issue doesn't necessarily match that approach.
Whether over-the-top players should pay telcos for carrying their content has been a hot topic in Europe for some time (see 2210130001), and the European Commission waded into the fight Thursday. As part of a proposal to transform the EU connectivity landscape, it's consulting on the future of the electronic communications sector and its infrastructure. The inquiry brought expected cheers from mobile operators, jeers from the tech industry.
As long as TikTok is subject to the whims of the Chinese Communist Party, the popular Chinese-owned social media app will remain a national security issue, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., told us Thursday. He said he shares concerns of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.