July 22, 2025
Authors
Robert Mayer: Senior Vice President, Cybersecurity & Innovation, USTelecom
Christopher Braccia: Cybersecurity & Innovation, USTelecom
Brianna Bace: Cybersecurity & Innovation, USTelecom
My colleagues and I recently had the privilege of presenting at the 27th Annual New York State Cybersecurity Conference—a gathering of cybersecurity leaders, public servants, and technologists committed to defending our critical infrastructure. Representing USTelecom and our nation’s broadband innovators, we shared a message that’s both urgent and optimistic: It’s time to reinforce America’s digital foundation by recommitting to our proven and effective public-private partnerships in cyberspace.
We’re bringing this message to you as USTelecom and Inside Cybersecurity are getting ready to co-host ‘Decoding the New U.S. Cybersecurity Framework: Everything You Should Know ” on Tuesday, July 29th at 1pm (ET) (register HERE). “This can’t-miss webinar brings together key cybersecurity leaders to explore how government and industry are collaborating to protect critical infrastructure and shape future tech and communications policy.”
Why? Because A New Chapter Demands a New Strategy
The administration’s rethink on the role of government provides an opportunity to reset how we think about public-private partnerships. We must evolve our collaboration by embracing agile, mission-focused working groups built on shared leadership, moving beyond just advising to real action. The goal is to build durable, cross-sector partnerships capable of proactively defending America’s critical infrastructure.
Cybersecurity Is No Longer Just a Technical Issue—It’s a Kitchen Table Issue
China, Russia, North Korea and other nation states have pivoted from cyber-enabled espionage to conflict preparation – embedding persistent threats in hardware and software to exploit vulnerabilities. Every American feels the ripple effects of a fractured cyber defense, where the potential for cascading failures across interdependent systems is a grave concern. A coordinated attack on critical infrastructure could trigger:
- Utility and Power Grid Failures: Millions could be affected by power grid failures, which in turn would disable essential services like heating, cooling, and water treatment systems.
- Healthcare System Disruptions: When ransomware locks up a hospital system, patients could lose access to critical care. Attacks could also lead to patient data loss, medical device failures, and life support disruptions.
- Transportation and Communication Chaos: Communities could lose trust in 911 access or utility services when foreign adversaries manipulate internet routing systems, causing outages. An attack might also cause traffic light failures, air traffic control disruptions, and railway accidents.
- Financial System Collapse: An attack could result in banking collapses that affect account access, ATM network shutdowns, and payment system failures.
These attacks could occur simultaneously with minimal warning, overwhelming response capabilities, and triggering unprecedented cascading failures across all 16 critical infrastructure sectors.
That’s why the work being done at USTelecom—alongside partners like the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), DHS, and dozens of industry peers—is focused on real-world, cross-sector solutions.
Spotlight: Strengthening the Foundations of Internet Routing
One concrete example is our work on Internet Routing Security. Most people don’t think about how traffic flows across the internet—until it’s hijacked or disrupted. Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), the foundational system that manages how data is routed between different networks across the internet, was not designed to handle the size and complexity of today’s internet, so it requires improved security measures.
With leadership from ONCD and in collaboration with nearly 30 companies and federal partners, we launched the Internet Routing Security Working Group. Together, we’re promoting adoption of tools like Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI)—a simple yet powerful upgrade that helps internet providers verify routing paths and reduce vulnerabilities. The Working Group developed playbooks with step-by-step guidance to help internet providers and enterprise network operators implement RPKI to enhance routing security, prevent route hijacking, and ensure more reliable internet connectivity.
While these solutions are technical, their impact is profoundly practical, safeguarding the internet connections that families, businesses, and emergency services depend on.
A Call to Action
Cybersecurity isn’t just the responsibility of IT departments or government agencies. It’s a shared national project—one that requires durable partnerships, modern tools, and a steady hand at the policy wheel.
Broadband providers are committed to being that steady hand. Whether it’s helping implement safer internet routing, defending our supply chain, or advocating for smarter policies, we’re working every day to ensure that America’s digital infrastructure remains strong, resilient, and secure.
To my colleagues in government, policy, and academia: Let’s build this foundation together.