Bipartisan Bill Would Establish Voluntary Cybersecurity Standards for U.S. Telecoms

Summary

Sens. Mark Warner and Ted Cruz introduced a bill creating voluntary telecom cybersecurity best practices and optional third-party certification, following Salt Typhoon breaches of major U.S. providers.

Key points

The proposed Telecommunications Cybersecurity and Resilience Act would establish voluntary cybersecurity best practices for telecom companies.
An NTIA working group would bring together telecoms, suppliers, cybersecurity experts and federal officials to develop the practices.
Companies could seek optional certification after an independent third party assesses their implementation of the practices.
The practices would be reviewed every two years and updated after major cyber incidents; the group would report annually to Congress.
The bill follows Salt Typhoon breaches that reportedly gave Chinese government-backed hackers years-long access to at least nine major U.S. telecom providers.
The article says intruders accessed call detail records and, in some cases, intercepted audio and text. Earlier mandatory telecom rules were scrapped.

Article Details

Event Type: Bipartisan legislation introduced to establish voluntary cybersecurity best practices and an optional certification process for the U.S. telecommunications industry.
Impact: The proposal responds to Salt Typhoon breaches of at least nine major U.S. telecommunications providers. The hackers accessed Call Detail Records and, in some cases, intercepted audio and text. The bill would create an NTIA working group to develop sector-specific best practices, review them every two years and after major incidents, and establish voluntary third-party certification.