March 1, 2018
(Washington, DC) – Today, the Communications Sector Coordinating Council (CSCC) released its Sector Activities Report for 2017.
CSCC members, which represent communications sector critical infrastructure owners/operators/trade associations in broadcasting, cable, satellite, wireless and wireline, work with government partners to protect the nation’s communications critical infrastructure and key resources from harm. Ensuring that the nation’s communications networks and systems are secure, resilient, and rapidly restored after a natural or manmade disaster is only growing in importance as we shift to a more connected, digital economy.
The report details the CSCC’s work building on 2016 activities, along with various new platforms for sector engagement, cross-sector outreach, and public-private collaboration throughout 2017. Beginning with the new Administration’s transition and Executive Order on Cybersecurity, through substantial recovery efforts following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria that continued through the end of the year, the CSCC has worked together with the member companies of the Communications Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Comm-ISAC) to ensure the sector is well coordinated and engaged in a meaningful way.
2017 CSCC accomplishments detailed in the report include: A July 2017 White Paper on Botnets to address the increasing threat environment and identify mitigation options; industry feedback to the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s Draft Cybersecurity Framework; leading industry’s effort to develop a final report for the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) V Working Group 5 on Cybersecurity Information Sharing; engaging the small and mid-size business community in cybersecurity through educational events, produced resources and policy discussions related to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework Version 1.1 and the Department of Commerce’s IoT Green Paper; and leading industry efforts to develop a final report for the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) V Working Group 7 on Cybersecurity Workforce Development.
“2017 made clear that in times of crisis, ensuring the resiliency of our communications infrastructure is absolutely essential to restoring communities to their full potential,” said Robert Mayer, chair of CSCC and senior vice president for cybersecurity at USTelecom. “Future-proofing our nation against threats both natural and man-made demands innovation and as well as strong public private partnerships.”
Vice chair of CSCC, Kathryn Condello of CenturyLink, said, “I’m proud of the work CSCC accomplished this past year, which underscores the commitment of the communications sector to continue to address today’s cybersecurity challenges together.”
A link to the full report can be found here.
# # #
About the CSCC: The Communications Sector Coordinating Council (CSCC), with its government partners, works to protect the nation’s communications critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) from harm and to ensure that the nation’s communications networks and systems are secure, resilient, and rapidly restored after a natural or manmade disaster. Visit us at: https://www.comms-scc.org/