Cybersecurity

Senators Introduce Fresh Slate of Cybersecurity-Centered Bills

A couple would codify recommendations made by the Cyberspace Solarium Commission.

Artificial Intelligence

Regulators Want to Know How AI Should (and Shouldn’t) Be Used In Nuclear Power Plants

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission put out a call for feedback on using artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the safety and reliability of the grid.

Cybersecurity

Energy Department Announces 100-Day Sprint to Shore Up Power Grid Cybersecurity

The department will partner with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and utilities to improve visibility, detection and response to cyber threats.

Policy

Jobs Plan Is Part of Competing with China, Commerce Secretary Says

Gina Raimondo said President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal will be key in out-competing China.

Cybersecurity

Electric Cars, Smart Refrigerators Pose Cyber Risk To US Utilities, GAO Finds

The risks aren’t well understood by researchers, in part because of local and state control of electrical utilities.

Digital Government

Biden Infrastructure Plan Includes Billions for Federal Buildings and Research

The American Jobs Plan proposes spending a small chunk of the $2 trillion on improving federal office buildings and hospitals.

Digital Government

Gallup: Americans’ Anxiety About Energy Prices, Supply Sharply Rises

In the organization’s latest poll, 73% of those surveyed say they worry a “great deal/fair amount” about the availability and affordability of energy.

Policy

Buttigieg Underscores Urgency of Transportation Infrastructure Investment

Republican lawmakers are skeptical of the scope of the Biden administration’s planned infrastructure package, which the president is expected to provide more details on next week.

Cybersecurity

Energy Launches Supply Chain Program As Watchdog Called for More Action 

The Energy Department has been focused on securing the generation and transmission of power, but distribution processes are also increasingly vulnerable.

Ideas

What Trump Got Wrong About Protecting GPS Users and America

The Global Positioning System has become the world’s most widely used tech utility.

Digital Government

At South by Southwest, DOT’s ‘Secretary Pete’ Points To Federal IT Priorities

He’d like to help make the 2020s ‘a turning point in the story of American transportation.’

Cybersecurity

America’s Drinking Water Is Surprisingly Easy to Poison

The experts say the sorts of rudimentary vulnerabilities revealed in the breach are common among America’s 151,000 public water systems.

Ideas

Commercial Cloud Outages Are a Wake-Up Call

As cloud computing’s versatility gives it the potential to become the easily identifiable “central nodes” of America’s economy, these policies are needed to ensure resilience.

Cybersecurity

White House Is Developing a Plan to Secure Industrial Control Systems

An upcoming executive order in response to the hacking campaign that involved SolarWinds will include standards to improve software transparency.

Ideas

The Need for Internet Interstate Infrastructure

The U.S. needs a digital infrastructure plan today in much the same way that it required a physical infrastructure plan in the 1950s.

Cybersecurity

CISA, FBI Share Recommendations After Water Treatment Hack 

The agencies say updating to the latest operating system is important, even if it wasn’t a factor in this particular incident.

Cybersecurity

Hack of Florida Water Treatment Plant Should Be a Wake-Up Call, Experts Say

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency should be involved every step of the way, a former presidential adviser said.  

Cybersecurity

Presidential Advisers Make the Case for a New Cybersecurity Center for Sharing Threats

Current federal efforts to help mitigate threats against privately operated critical infrastructure fall short, according to a National Infrastructure Advisory Council report.

Cybersecurity

Experts Call for Government to Designate Commercial Space Sector as Critical Infrastructure

The federal government currently deems 16 sectors as critical infrastructure sectors because of their importance.