By: Matt Tooley
As the global economy has moved into the digital age, every day we are reminded that the security of our vast digital networks and resources is of utmost importance. The cable industry takes this responsibility seriously and has been working closely with government agencies and other stakeholders to develop responsible protections.
One example is our role in the FCC’s Communications, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC). The goal of CSRIC is to provide recommendations to the FCC to ensure, among other things, that we ensure optimal security and reliability of communications systems, including the telecommunications, media, and public safety industries.
One CSRIC working group focuses on cybersecurity, with the goal to “develop voluntary mechanisms to provide macro-level assurance to the FCC and the public that communication providers are taking the necessary corporate and operational measures to manage cybersecurity risks across the enterprise.” This group will present its report on Cybersecurity Best Practices to the full CSRIC Council on March 18.
Prior to the CSRIC Council meeting and the pending report, last week the Comcast Center of Excellence for Security Innovation (CSI), in partnership with the University of Connecticut, sponsored a discussion on the evolving cyber threat landscape. The event featured a keynote address by Donna Dodson, chief of the Computer Security Division and the acting executive director of the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence for NIST, who discussed how top leaders in academia, business and government are working together to “collect, reflect and connect” on the best ideas for securing critical infrastructure.
Dodson said that NIST takes a risk-management approach for cybersecurity and applies that to a business environment, recognizing that cybersecurity risks are instrumental to the decisions that businesses make every day. She also said that the multi-communications sector of CSRIC has provided a model that financial, energy and other sectors could adopt.
You can watch the full event here
As someone who has spent a lot of time the last two years working with cable cybersecurity engineers on these important issues, it was great to hear that the work by the cable and communications sector is a model that can be adopted by the other sectors. As the largest broadband provider in the country, cable’s example on cybersecurity best practices not only works to protect millions of Internet users today, but will position the entire broadband economy for better security well into the future.
I look forward to the March 18 CSRIC Council meeting and delivering the comprehensive report that will be the culmination of a lot of hard work by the communications sector.