Page 8 - FCW, July 2017

Trending
AT&T rival
targets FirstNet
opt-out states
FirstNet and AT&T have launched a web portal that allows states to sign up for individual network plans so they can connect to the nationwide broadband system for first responders. When states opt in to an AT&T plan, the company said service delivery will begin immediately.
According to a joint statement released by AT&T and FirstNet on June 19, states and territories have 90 days to decide whether to opt out of AT&T’s offering in favor of their own plans.
The legislation authorizing FirstNet allows states to run their own systems as long as they are interoperable with FirstNet’s core and as long as they receive federal approval.
When AT&T was awarded the contract for the 25-year, $6.5 bil- lion network, a group led by Rivada Networks unsuccessfully protested the award. In response, the Rivada Mercury consortium — which includes Harris, Intel, Fujitsu, Eric- sson and Nokia — said it would work directly with states and ter- ritories to develop its own interop- erable network offering in the FirstNet spectrum.
Brian Carney, Rivada’s senior vice president for corporate communica- tions, said eight states have issued requests for proposals for alternative network plans, and the company is in the process of responding to all of them. Rivada already has a contract with New Hampshire.
“We look forward to working with any state that is seeking an alterna- tive,” he said. “We expect more when they see the costs of AT&T’s network.”
500M
hack attempts target HHS each week, according to CIO Beth Killoran
6 July 2017 FCW.COM
— Mark Rockwell
Why an HHS cyber center could confuse federal efforts
Some lawmakers and industry leaders have expressed concern that the Department of Health and Human Services’ plan to establish a cybersecurity center for the health care industry could further complicate the federal government’s tangle of rules and regulations.
In April, Chris Wlaschin, chief infor- mation security officer at HHS, said the agency would establish a Health Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (HCCIC) to help the industry deal with cybersecurity issues. CIO Beth Killoran said at a conference in June that health data is becoming extremely valuable to hackers, so the agency is searching for ways to enhance the secure sharing of the sensitive infor- mation HHS handles.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and ranking member Sen. Claire McCaskill convened a hearing in June to discuss the growing confusion over cybersecu- rity regulations across several sectors.
McCaskill described the HHS center as a health industry-focused version of
the Department of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communi- cations Integration Center, which shares threat indicators with the private sector to mitigate cyberthreats. She also said she is concerned that the HCCIC will make the situation worse.
Testimony from industry experts at the hearing focused on how to stream- line and harmonize what they see as an uncoordinated, mostly leaderless federal cybersecurity effort.
Since 2014, “we have tracked the issuance of nearly 30 new or proposed cybersecurity rules, guidelines, tools or frameworks that directly affect firms,” said Christopher Feeney, president of the technology policy division of the Financial Services Roundtable. “While regulators may have different statutory authorities and areas of specific focus, much of the information they seek from firms is common.”
Johnson and McCaskill said they planned to send a letter to the White House asking that a federal CIO be appointed to help untangle the web of cybersecurity regulations.
— Mark Rockwell
NGA
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NGA Research Director talks ‘owning R&D transition’ during @FCWnow’s #Analytics Supporting #NationalSecurity “event
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