Officials from the Enforcement Bureau of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently convened government regulators from four other international partners to discuss current and emerging security and enforcement issues related to the protection of national communications sectors.
The meeting, which took place at the end of October at the FCC’s headquarters in Washington, DC, included regulatory representatives from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The group discussed a number of national communications security issues, including supply chain vulnerabilities, data breaches, and national security risk mitigation.
The overarching goal of the meeting was to increase mutual commitment for continued coordination of efforts to strengthen individual enforcement policies and minimize differences in enforcement actions.
Loyann Egal, Chief of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and head of the FCC’s Privacy and Data Protection Task Force, emphasized the critical importance of the meeting. “The threats facing the communications sector are bountiful and know no territorial boundaries,” he said. “Therefore, it is imperative that we work with our closest allies to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect our respective citizens and critical infrastructure.”
The meeting is a part of the FCC’s actions to align with the National Security Memorandum on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience, which emphasizes the importance of international engagement to help ensure the security of critical national infrastructures.
