The U.S. government has taken initial steps to secure federal networks and critical infrastructure, but the process of securing the IoT has just begun, said White House tech policy adviser Kelsey Guyselman Tuesday. Speaking at an event hosted by the American Bar Association and the FCBA, Guyselman detailed the goals of President Donald Trump’s executive order from May. Botnets and other automated threats aren't problems that can be solved by a single entity, agency or sector, she said, urging a collaborative approach to securing the IoT. Guyselman spoke in place of NTIA Administrator David Redl, who couldn't attend due to a scheduling conflict. On a separate panel, DOJ Computer Crime-Criminal Division Deputy Chief Michael Stawasz opposed the EU's general data protection regulation potentially impeding criminal investigations abroad. While working full-time to gain legal access to private data, and balancing law enforcement and privacy concerns, Stawasz said he likes the U.S.’ current framework “just fine.” The GDPR could potentially conflict with warrant compliance, he said. Wiley Rein's Megan Brown said, based on discussions with industry and officials in Europe, there has been a “slow awakening” that the GDPR could interfere with surveillance.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday barring U.S. citizens from “all transactions related to, provision of financing for, and other dealings in” any “digital currency, digital coin, or digital token” issued by Venezuela’s government. Trump signed the order a month after the Venezuelan government formally rolled out its petro virtual currency to aid the nation’s sagging economy and skirt U.S. sanctions. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he’s planning to unveil a “petro gold” virtual currency backed by precious metals after the government collected $735 million in presale purchases of the oil-backed petro. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., praised Trump for banning the transactions, saying in a statement it “targets their ability to use cryptocurrencies to circumvent U.S. and international sanctions.”

Companies worldwide lose about $1.5 trillion annually to cybercrime, and insurance covers about 15 percent of the cost, reported WomenCorporateDirectors and Marsh & McLennan’s Global Risk Center. A survey by Marsh and Microsoft from January showed 30 percent of companies have a cyber response plan, the report said, and research shows 40 percent of U.S. boards have reviewed their cyber insurance coverage in the past year. The 2017-2018 National Association of Corporate Directors' Public Company Governance Survey showed 60 percent of boards reviewed breach response plans in the past year.

CSRA, providing cybersecurity to the government and others, got a rival, higher takeover bid that was an unsolicited proposal from CACI, which also provides cybersecurity. But original buyer General Dynamics said it will carry on with its all-cash $9.6 billion deal. Although about 8 percent more on a per-share basis, CACI's offer isn't all cash. CACI sees $165 million annually in cost savings, more than with GD. The antitrust waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act has expired, said GD. CSRA's board, "in consultation with its legal and financial advisors, will carefully review and consider" the new bid, the acquiree said: The board hasn't "changed its recommendation that CSRA stockholders tender their shares of CSRA common stock pursuant to the Offer" from GD. After Sunday's developments, CSRA stock closed up 0.9 percent Monday at $41.02.

A federal court froze assets and operations of four individuals the FTC alleged engaged in cryptocurrency scams in which they “falsely promised” participants large returns if they used digital currencies to participate. Thomas Dluca, Louis Gatto and Eric Pinkston deceptively promoted Bitcoin Funding Team and My7Network, promising participants could turn $100 of investment into $80,000 in monthly income, according to FTC filings. A fourth defendant, Scott Chandler, supported Bitcoin Funding Team and another allegedly illegal scheme, Jetcoin, said the FTC. The structures ensured that “few would benefit” from investment and a majority of investors would fail “to recoup” their initial payment, FTC said. The schemes involved digital currencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin. At the request of the FTC, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a temporary restraining order and froze defendants’ assets until a trial decision. The commission separately Friday said it established an agency blockchain working group, which will focus on cryptocurrency and blockchain issues. “I expect that fraudsters will repurpose old schemes to capitalize on the current glamour and mystery of cryptocurrency," said acting Chief Technologist Neil Chilson. “The FTC staff will diligently apply its expertise to identify such schemes.”

The Federal Election Commission opened public comment on draft rules for online political advertising disclosures. Commissioners approved the draft NPRM on internet disclaimers and definition of “public communication” Wednesday. The agency is seeking comment on two alternative proposals to update regulations for online ads that “contain express advocacy, solicit contributions or are made by political committees.” The FEC scheduled a hearing June 27. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said the "simple and overdue act of strengthening these disclaimer rules” should have been completed, and this solicitation means standards for online political ads remain far behind those for political ads on TV and other media. He noted the delayed reform overlaps with the start of primary season for the upcoming 2018 midterms. Congress must recognize that current laws don't adequately deal with current national security threats, he said, urging action on the Honest Ads Act (S-1989) he introduced with Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John McCain, R-Ariz.

The digital economy made up 6.5 percent or $1.2 trillion of gross domestic product in 2016, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday. It grew at an average annual rate of 5.6 percent from 2006 to 2016, outpacing overall U.S. economic growth of 1.5 percent yearly, the bureau said. In 2016, the digital economy included 5.9 million jobs in the U.S., 3.9 percent of total employment. Digital economy employees earned more than $114,000 per year on average, nearly twice the $66,500 national average.

Equifax distanced itself from a former employee DOJ alleged conducted illegal trading. Acting CEO Paulino Do Rego Barros said Wednesday that after learning about Jun Ying’s August sale of Equifax shares, the company reviewed his trading activity and concluded he “violated our company’s trading policies, separated him from the company and reported our findings to government authorities. We are fully cooperating with the DOJ and the SEC, and will continue to.”

The Advertising Self-Regulatory Council upheld a consumer complaint that e-commerce provider Liftopia lacked upfront notice of interest-based advertising. The platform for ski resort ticket sales didn't alert consumers that third-party advertisers potentially collect data about browser activity and use that data to deliver ads to users on other websites, it said Wednesday. The ASRC, which is directed by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, establishes policies for industry self-regulation. The ASRC notice said, to address the problem, Liftopia “added an enhanced notice link to the footer of its website.” Liftopia didn't comment.

The FCC said 111 million calls were blocked in a Level 3 network outage Oct. 4, 2016, almost all of which were on the company's interconnected VoIP and wireless networks. "The outage, which lasted for nearly an hour and a half, revealed underlying issues in Level 3’s network management practices," the Public Safety Bureau reported Tuesday. "The outage occurred when, as part of Level 3’s anti-fraud operations, a technician created an improper entry in Level 3’s network management software by leaving a number field blank that would normally contain a target telephone number. The network management software interpreted the blank field as an instruction to block all calls, and accordingly blocked all calls across Level 3’s network, rather than blocking only those calls from numbers associated with potentially malicious activity. Within four minutes of the beginning of the outage, Level 3’s network began sending traffic management alerts indicating a network issue. Once Level 3 and its vendor discovered and addressed this issue, the outage ended. Level 3 has since taken corrective actions that the Bureau assesses should help prevent such outages from occurring in the future." CenturyLink, which recently bought Level 3, declined comment.