Final Version of FCC's Cybersecurity Order Virtually the Same as Draft
The FCC on Friday released the text of an order overturning a January ruling and NPRM addressing the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks, which were approved during the final days of the Biden administration. The reversal order was approved 2-1 Thursday, with Commissioner Anna Gomez dissenting (see 2511200047). It found that the January ruling was “an unlawful and ineffective attempt to show that the agency was taking some type of action on cybersecurity issues.”
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There were few changes between the final order and the draft previously circulated by Chairman Brendan Carr. In one change of substance, the final version added text to a section on why the January ruling allegedly misinterpreted the FCC’s authority under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).
“Nor does CALEA’s narrow definition of ‘call-identifying information’ -- which encompasses only ‘dialing or signaling information that identifies the origin, direction, destination, or termination of each communication generated or received by a subscriber by means of any equipment, facility, or service of a telecommunications carrier’ -- require carriers to secure all information across their entire enterprises,” the added text says.
All three commissioners also filed written statements Friday.