THE TYPHOON IN THE ROOM — Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) is seeking extensive details from CISA about the Chinese state-linked hacking group known as Volt Typhoon. In a letter to CISA director Jen Easterly ahead of the weekend, Vance outlined concerns about how Volt Typhoon has deeply embedded itself across U.S. critical infrastructure networks. He warned the group’s access poses risks of potential “disruption or destruction” during heightened geopolitical tensions. — Nine-part inquiry: Vance gave Easterly until May 24 to answer a series of questions, including how Volt Typhoon initially breached systems, what prompted CISA's urgent February warning on the threat, which critical infrastructure sectors have been impacted beyond energy/utilities, the total number of compromised devices, which agencies and information sharing hubs are involved in the response, CISA's mitigation efforts so far and a count of related incident reports since January 2023. — The backdrop: The request comes after top cyber diplomat Amb. Nate Fick revealed to reporters at a roundtable at the RSA Conference that Volt Typhoon came up “directly” in U.S.-China talks, when top officials joined U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for a state trip to China to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping last month. Fick told reporters that Blinken told Chinese officials that the Volt Typhoon intrusions were “dangerous,” “escalatory” and “unacceptable.” — And this is pretty important: Fick told reporters at RSAC last Tuesday the two countries were set to meet again in a third country to discuss AI soon. POLITICO’s Mohar Chatterjee and Doug Palmer report that the U.S. and Chinese delegations will meet in Geneva this Tuesday to discuss “technical risks” with AI, according to senior administration officials. — Join the club: It also follows months of CISA, White House, intelligence officials and security firms beating the drum on the massive threat Volt Typhoon poses to American networks, culminating in a late January disruption of the KV Botnet on outdated U.S. routers and critical infrastructure networks. It’s a tight timeline for Easterly, but top cyber and intel officials have long warned lawmakers on the Hill about the Chinese state-backed hacking threat, and CISA already proclaimed in a February advisory that Volt Typhoon is pre-positioning itself for potential future attacks. HOUSE E&C LEADERS WANT TO SUNSET SECTION 230 — House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) released a two-page draft bill that would sunset tech companies’ liability shield “Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act” by Dec. 31, 2025. The lawmakers said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Sunday that the proposal would require tech companies to work with Congress over the next 18 months to develop a new framework for free speech while also ensuring the platforms are safe. —On the clock: “Sunsetting Section 230 will require Congress and stakeholders to create a solution that ensures accountability, protects innovation and free speech, and reflects the realities of the digital age,” the lawmakers wrote. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also said earlier this year he’s also working on legislation to sunset Section 230 in the Senate. — Big question: The E&C leaders didn’t share what exactly they’d replace Section 230 with. It’s been a point of contention for years with Democrats calling for more harmful hate speech to be removed, and Republicans urging platforms to push for more free speech and stop censoring conservative viewpoints. Section 230 has only been updated once since it was enacted in 1996, with a law in 2018 that peels back liability protections when it comes to online sex trafficking.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment