FCC urges strong industry stance on cybersecurity threats
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FCC urges strong industry stance on cybersecurity threats

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has told telecoms companies to take a strong stance on preparing their networks against cyber attacks.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler delivered his first speech tailored around cybersecurity, and was adamant that the private sector must take responsibility for managing cybersecurity risk, before it becomes a regulatory problem.

“The private sector-led effort must be more dynamic than traditional regulation and more measurably effective than blindly trusting the market or voluntary best practices to defend our country,” said Wheeler.

There are concerns in the industry over the reluctance of corporate leaders to spend money on cybersecurity attacks, and the FCC has been an advocate of attempting to introduce cybersecurity standards in the past.

The regulator has been met with opposition from communications companies in the past, but Wheeler has since attempted to reintroduce the initiatives.

Reuters reports that the FCC will now ask the industry to showcase how they are adopting practices against the threats, and it could incorporate cybersecurity into its routine regulatory work in the future.

“Companies must have the capacity to assure themselves, their shareholders, their boards and their nation of the sufficiency of their own cyber risk-management practises,” added Wheeler.

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