FCC Assumes Larger Role in Cybersecurity

A look at the week of August 9, 2010, in public advocacy for the IT channel

This week, the FCC asked for public comments on its plan assume a larger role in the cybersecurity arena in an effort to protect our nation’s broadband infrastructure. Health-insurers, meanwhile, are diversifying their offerings and entering the healthcare IT arena. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to fund Web services.  NFIB found that economic optimism has declined.

FCC Moves to Forge a Role in Cybersecurity – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requested public input on its proposal to increase its role in protecting the nation from cybersecurity attacks. The FCC is seeking feedback on its proposed cybersecurity "roadmap," which was included in the National Broadband Plan. The FCC stated that cyber threats not only undermine national security but also pose a significant economic risk to broadband providers. The Hill’s Hillicon Valley blog reports that the roadmap would identify the five most critical cybersecurity threats to the nation's communications infrastructure and create a two-year plan for addressing those threats.  According to its own blog, the FCC also is seeking comments on a voluntary cybersecurity certification program for communications service providers. The FCC states that the “availability of such a certification would strengthen market incentives for providers of communications services to upgrade the cybersecurity measures they apply to their networks.”

Doctors Get Dose of Technology from Insurers – Health insurance companies are throwing their hat into the ring to equip doctors with high-tech patient records. An estimated 80 percent of U.S. physicians and 90 percent of hospitals still have paper records, and $27 billion in federal stimulus money has been allocated to help these holdouts switch. Starting in 2015, doctors will be penalized under Medicare if they haven't computerized their records. The Wall Street Journal notes that several health insurance companies are seizing on an opportunity to diversify their operations as the federal health overhaul presents new challenges to their core business of collecting premiums and paying claims.

Senate Committee Funds Web, Cuts Cloud Computing – The Senate Appropriations Commission has voted to increase federal spending for web services next year, but opted to cut back on funding to use cloud computing to consolidate data centers and IT infrastructure.  According to Information Week, the federal government will get $40 million in the FY2011 federal budget to build a set of services that can be used across agencies to foster efficiency and collaboration.

Small-Business Sentiment Deteriorates – The National Federation of Independent Business released a report finding that economic optimism has declined. According to the Wall Street Journal Real Time Economics blog, optimism fell last month as worries over the longer-run outlook mounted. The report said the July reading was “a very disappointing outcome” and added that business leaders expect “sub-par growth in the second half” of the year.