FCC.Gov Could Get Cybersecurity Help

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FCC.gov and other federal agency Web sites will get a bigger assist from the Department of Homeland Security to protect against potential cyberattacks if a new bipartisan bill makes it through Congress.

The bill, being introduced Wednesday comes in the wake of the theft of millions of records from the Office of Personnel Management (a .gov site).

While the Department of Homeland Security is already charged with protecting the .gov domain name, it has limited authority, according to the legislators.

Sponsoring the bill are Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.).

OPM has been under intense scrutiny—director Katherine Archuleta resigned—after the hack that compromised over 20 million records of past, current and potential government employees.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.