Rosenworcel Seen Likely to Embrace Simington’s Calls for Security Rules
Security has become one of Simington’s biggest focuses as a commissioner, and he started to work with Rosenworcel’s office on next steps, officials said. Simington hired as his wireline aide Marco Peraza, who was a software engineer at Microsoft before attending law school, with a focus on operating system security and data protection. The FCC didn’t comment.
The biggest challenge isn’t smartphones but routers and other gear that don’t offer automatic security downloads, said Jonathan Cannon, R Street fellow-technology and innovation and a former acting adviser to Simington. Cannon said most industry players would probably welcome the focus. Other experts agreed smart devices other than smartphones are the biggest challenge.
It would be a “bipartisan accomplishment of the commission to research and look into a crucial part of network security … but to do so in a pro-market way that does not overly burden companies and providers of this type of equipment,” Cannon said. “The way that you’ve got foreign actors being so much more willing to engage in attacks and nefarious conduct you want to really patch that our as best you can,” he said.
