In a recent hearing up on the Hill, Jason Livingood, Comcast’s Vice President of Internet systems engineering testified that Comcast will never be able to completely secure its broadband network from cyber security threats such as botnets that can “turn ordinary users into unwitting participants in global criminal enterprises.” If you think about it, Comcast, which is the nation’s largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) with 18 million high speed Internet customers, would make a very powerful botnet.
Data Points:
- One unpublished report out of Britain disclosed that the number of cyber-attacks on smart phones had increased by 800 percent in just four months.
- Tablets have drawn special interest from cyber attackers since people are using them for an increasing number of activities and are more likely to store sensitive data. Given that many tablets share the same operating system as smart phones, they are vulnerable to the same malware.
- In response, industry leaders from the telecommunications sector are pushing incentives versus regulations.
The clock is ticking. All too often the legislative process is so complex and time consuming that the product of that work is outdated even before it becomes law. Given the dynamics of the technology sector and the rapid evolution of cyber threats it will be a challenge to maintain currency of any legislation.
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