FCC Announces New Cyber Security Initiative For Small Businesses

By Adrianna McGinley

A broadband connection can increase annual revenue for a small business by $200,000, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Julius Genachowski, but only if there are adequate cyber security measures in place.

During a discussion Monday at the Chamber of Commerce, Genachowski praised the work of a partnership between the FCC, the Department of Homeland Security, and the private sector and announced the release of the “Small Biz Cyber Planner”, a free, online tool to help small businesses develop customized cyber security plans.

Genachowski cited a 2011 Connected Nations Study showing the financial benefits of being online for a small business but added if sufficient security measures have not been taken, the result of a cyber attack could average a loss of $200,000.

“Failure to take cyber security seriously can potentially negate the benefits of being online,” Genachowski warned.

According to a 2011 Small Business Cybersecurity Survey conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance and Symantec, 77 percent of small and medium business do not have a formal internet security policy in place, and 48 percent do not have even an informal policy. Despite these numbers, 85 percent of the 1,045 small business owners surveyed, reported they feel their systems are secure.

“Not to consider cyber security is a little bit like leaving your money lying around on a table and thinking that that’s not going to be a problem,” said former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

The Symantec/NCSA survey found that because of high costs, 85 percent of small businesses have no outside IT support. Chertoff said there is a need to create security resources that are understandable and accessible to “ordinary mortals”.

“The beauty of what’s been launched here…is that it makes accessible to people who are not full-time technology wizards the basic instructions and basic elements of a cyber security plan,” Chertoff explained.

Genachowski also announced that this week, the FCC will vote to modernize the Universal Service Fund, in order to provide infrastructure to 18 million people in rural communities across the U.S. who currently have no broadband access. The goal, he said, is to have universal broadband access by the end of the decade.

“Connecting these communities will create and save businesses that otherwise couldn’t exist,” Genchowski noted.

Chertoff Explains Significance of Color-Coded Advisory System

Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff explained the importance of the Department of Homeland Security's color-coded advisory system, noting that many organizations, such as the separate U.S. military branches, use a similar method of communicating rapidly. (0:43)

Chertoff Disappointed With Emergency Response Communication

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News Service

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff noted Thursday that while many improvements have been made in U.S. emergency response capabilities, more can be done to improve communication between different agencies.

"All of the groups need to make an agreement on the [technological] language used," Chertoff said during a panel discussion at the National Press Club. "We still have a ways to go."

To counter the current shortcomings of inter-agency communication, Chertoff suggested reserving part of the radio spectrum solely for emergency response, thus allowing responders to transmit voice, data, and video more efficiently through portable devices like BlackBerrys and iPhones.

The idea to scrap the system we have now or to wait for equipment to become obsolete is not a viable option, Chertoff warned.

$1 billion has been distributed to states and localities to promote interoperable communications.

Chertoff addresses power of judges at home and abroad

With increasing economic regulation and new national security challenges against terrorism, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said judges will be treading into an area of decision making with little precedence. At the 2008 National Lawyers Convention by the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy, Chertoff (who is not a member of the Federalist Society) said “with the emerging issues in national security, both domestically and over seas, the question of the judge’s proper role is once again going to come to the floor,” Chertoff said.

Judicial modesty, or restrictions on the ‘judicial creativity and manipulation’ of lawyers and judges, should be a “transparent, open, and objective process” said Chertoff. He added that partisanship should be subordinate to judicial modesty, even if it means passing law against one’s subjective interpretation of the law.

Chertoff described four problems that will arise from lack of judicial modesty: 1.) Private interpretation of an objective law, 2.) Deficient separation of power, 3.) Lawmakers’ skill sets aren’t adequate for all areas, and do not always have complete information (i.e. in the case of military strategy), 4.) Accepting rulings as authoritative and correct without legitimacy.

Reduced Medicaid funding may diminish emergency response

The Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held the second of a two-day hearing on “the impact of the Administration’s Medicaid regulations on the ability of our nation’s emergency rooms to respond to a sudden influx of casualties from a terrorist attack,” said Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA). Waxman said that based on the first hearing, he was concerned about trauma centers that have “little or no surge capacity.” He said that the Bush Administration’s plans to cut Medicaid funding for hospitals would make trauma centers even more incapable of responding to a large-scale emergency situation similar to Hurricane Katrina, the Minneapolis bridge collapse, the Madrid train bombings, or other potential threats.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt agreed with the Chairman that emergency response system was inadequate, but said that Medicaid funding was not the correct tool with which to fix the problem. He said that Medicaid’s first priority is to provide health care for “low-income seniors, children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities,” and not to support institutions. He said that Medicaid “should not become a limitless account for State and local programs and agencies to draw Federal funds for non-Medicaid purposes,” and that “allowing for the continuation of abusive practices of shifting costs to the Federal government is not the appropriate way to ensure our nation’s preparedness.”

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff agreed with Leavitt, and said that there is no guarantee that Medicaid funds would be spent on emergency response.