FCC Cites National Security Concerns to Withhold Federal Contracts

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is proposing new rules that will allow the commission to withhold federal contracts and other funds based on national security concerns. This is likely to involve several companies based in Russia and China.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is proposing new rules that will allow the commission to block certain tech companies from receiving federal contracts and other funds if these suppliers are deemed a threat to national security.
The proposal, announced March 26, would apply to the FCCs $8.5 billion
Universal Service Fund
(USF), which helps provide telecommunications and other services to rural and low-income areas.
Hidden back doors to our networks in routers, switches -- and virtually any other type of telecommunications equipment -- can provide an avenue for hostile governments to inject viruses, launch denial-of-service attacks, steal data, and more, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wrote in
a statement
released Monday.
(Source:
Flickr
)
Although the proposal did not specify which companies the proposed rule changes are targeting,
Light Reading Mobile Editor Dan Jones
reports that Chinas Huawei Technologies and ZTE, along with Russias Kasperksy Labs, are likely to come under additional scrutiny.
The FBI and CIA have previously sent warnings about Huawei and ZTE. (See
Unknown Document 741756
.)
The fundamentals of network security are being redefined -- dont get left in the dark by a DDoS attack! Join us in Austin from May 14-16 at the fifth annual
Big Communications Event
. Theres still time to register and communications service providers get in free!
Kasperksy has also come under scrutiny for its ties to the Russian government, but company
spokespeople have denied any connection
.
The FCC will hold a vote on new rules on April 17.
For more details, read the full story on Security Nows parent site,
Light Reading
.
Related posts:
Government Workers Believe Security Is Someone Elses Job
Trump Cites National Security to Kill Broadcoms Proposal for Qualcomm
DHS Has Some Serious Security Failures, Report Finds
Trumps 5G Nationalization Plan: Is It Good for Security?
— Scott Ferguson, is the managing editor of Light Reading and the editor of
Security Now
. Follow him on Twitter
@sferguson_LR
.

Last News
▸ New threat discovered: Mobile phone ownership compromised. ◂ Discovered: 23/12/2024 Category: security	▸ Some DLP Products Vulnerable to Security Holes ◂ Discovered: 23/12/2024 Category: security	▸ Scan suggests Heartbleed patches may not have been successful. ◂ Discovered: 23/12/2024 Category: security

**Cyber Security Categories**
Google Dorks Database	Exploits Vulnerability	Exploit Shellcodes

CVE List

Tools/Apps

News/Aarticles

Phishing Database

Deepfake Detection

Trends/Statistics & Live Infos

Tags:
FCC Cites National Security Concerns to Withhold Federal Contracts