Section 230 reform. Deescalation in cyberspace. Hacks distracted the US from information sharing?

Summary

By the CyberWire staff

At a glance.

Facebook's approach to Section 230 reform.
Deescalating cyber conflict.
Nation-state cyber operations on the upswing.
Holiday Bear and Hafnium distracted the US Government from information sharing?

How Facebook would reform Section 230.

SeekingAlpha summarizes Facebook CEO Zuckerberg’s prepared testimony for today’s House hearing on Section 230 reform. Zuckerberg will argue for conditionalizing unlawful content liability shields on “companies’ ability to meet best practices to combat the spread of this content.” Axios adds that the proposed “best practices” would be “defined by a third party,” and wouldn’t cover cybersecurity concerns like encryption. Zuckerberg also asked for more guidance on managing lawful but “harmful” content.

The hearing will cover platforms’ commercial interests in promoting false and fringe viewpoints. Axios noted that smaller firms would be hit hardest by 230 reforms.

Deescalating cyber conflict.

In a break from recent calls for muscular replies to Chinese and Russian mischief, Atlantic Council proposes a step back from defend forward, “unless the [Defense Department] can provide criteria that define success…and an estimated timeline for when the president can expect results,” and a step towards defensive security upgrades.

Cyber conflict, the piece argues, hasn’t yet escalated to kinetic conflict, but the odds are looking grim as incidents and capacities intensify. While defend forward could “someday spark a larger conflict,” the authors think security innovations like E2E encryption, automated patching, and cloud technology—which are cheap to use and expensive to circumvent—represent the future of cyber defense.

Former NSA Director says nation-state cyber offensives are trending up.

Former National Security Agency Director and CyberCom Commander Admiral (retired) Rogers told NetDiligence Cyber War Webinar Series attendees that APT cyberattacks are worsening again after the breather following 2017’s NotPetya debacle, according to CyberCube. Rogers also observed that the distinction between state and criminal activity is dwindling.

Holiday Bear and Hafnium hacks diverted attention from information sharing.

The Wall Street Journal reports Acting Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Wales’ comments that Hafnium and Holiday Bear sidetracked public-private intelligence-sharing efforts. CISA has been working to advance its ability to digest and disseminate actionable threat intelligence, and the hacks have heightened calls for better cross-sector communications.

With capacities redirected to remediation efforts, Wales said, “I don’t think we’ve figured it out just yet.” He did note that nearly all intelligence relating to recent incidents has been shared with the business community.

Selected Reading

How to reverse three decades of escalating cyber conflict (Atlantic Council) Cyber conflict has not escalated from a fight inside its space to a more traditional armed attack. This happy state may not last.

Facebook's Zuckerberg set to argue for tweaks to liability protection (SeekingAlpha) Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to argue for "thoughtful reform" of protections that tech platforms enjoy from liability for posting content when he speaks...

Zuckerberg suggests how to tweak tech's liability shield (Axios) Zuckerberg wants to make protections for unlawful content conditional on platforms' ability to meet best practices.

Testimony of Mark Zuckerberg Facebook, Inc. [remarks as prepared] (US House of Representatives) Hearing Before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Communications & Technology March 25, 2021 Testimony of Mark Zuckerberg Facebook, Inc. I want to start by extending my deepest condolences to the families of the Capitol police officers who lost their lives in the wake of January 6 and my appreciation to the many officers who put themselves at risk to protect you.

Making the National Cyber Director Operational With a National Cyber Defense Center (Lawfare) Without a National Cyber Defense Center, the Office of the National Cyber Director will fail to move the needle in improving the U.S. cybersecurity posture.

Biden Moving Slowly in Filling Key National-Security Posts (Wall Street Journal) While the White House quickly chose leaders for the Pentagon, State Department and major intelligence agencies, top officials handling much of the day-to-day work on security matters haven’t been nominated.

Lawmakers Want to Know Where Buck Stops in Cyber (Bloomberg) Hi, this is Alyza on the cybersecurity team. U.S. lawmakers are looking for someone to blame. Recent major cyber-attacks have blindsided U.S. companies and officials. But unlike, say, a terrorist bombing or a more pedestrian crime, it's not clear which government agencies are responsible for the attacks' prevention and cleanup.

Public-Private Partnership is ‘Critical’ to Cybersecurity (Meritalk) Preventing cyberattacks is more important than ever and the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Cybersecurity Collaboration Center is working with government and industry partners to share information and tackle cybersecurity as a “team sport.”

Lawmakers reintroduce legislation to secure internet-connected devices (TheHill) Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) on Wednesday again rolled out legislation intended to help secure internet-connected devices and increase consumer confidence in them.

The Pentagon could help improve resilience of the US electric grid (Defense News) A strategic enterprise approach across U.S. military installations in partnership with electric utilities could potentially enhance grid stability and resilience, benefiting national security.