The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revealed the creation of a new Council for National Security within the telecom agency. The Council will utilize the Commission’s complete set of regulatory, investigatory, and enforcement powers to enhance America’s national security and address threats from foreign adversaries, with a specific focus on the risks posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr named his National Security Counsel, Adam Chan, as the first Director of the FCC’s Council on National Security. The Council will be comprised of representatives from eight Bureaus and Offices within the FCC, fostering cross-agency collaboration and information sharing.
The Council will have a three-part goal that includes reduce the American technology and telecommunications sectors’ trade and supply chain dependencies on foreign adversaries; mitigating America’s vulnerabilities to cyberattacks, espionage, and surveillance by foreign adversaries; and ensuring that the U.S. wins the strategic competition with China over critical technologies, such as 5G and 6G, AI, satellites and space, quantum computing, robotics and autonomous systems, and the Internet of Things.
“Today, the country faces a persistent and constant threat from foreign adversaries, particularly the CCP,” Carr said in a Thursday statement. “These bad actors are always exploring ways to breach our networks, devices, and technology ecosystem. It is more important than ever that the FCC remain vigilant and protect Americans and American companies from these threats. Because these threats now cut across a range of sectors that the FCC regulates, it is important that the FCC’s national security efforts pull resources from a variety of FCC organizations.”
The Council will facilitate the Chairman’s ability to implement a comprehensive national security agenda and facilitate the Commission’s engagement with national security partners across the Executive Branch and in Congress.
These moves come as Salt Typhoon, an advanced persistent threat actor believed to be operated by China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). The group has been involved in high-profile cyber espionage campaigns, notably targeting and breaching several U.S. telecommunications networks.
Late last year, U.S. officials announced that hackers affiliated with Salt Typhoon had accessed the computer systems of nine U.S. telecommunications companies, later acknowledged to include Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Spectrum, Lumen, Consolidated Communications, and Windstream. The attack targeted U.S. broadband networks, particularly core network components, including routers manufactured by Cisco, which route large portions of the Internet.
In January this year, the FCC announced the implementation of robust measures to safeguard the nation’s communication systems against significant cybersecurity threats, particularly those posed by state-sponsored cyber actors from the People’s Republic of China. This decision comes in response to recent reports of foreign entities infiltrating U.S. communication networks.
Previously, in December, the FCC declared decisive actions requiring telecom carriers to fortify their networks, aiming to enhance the resilience of U.S. communications against future cyberattacks, including those from state-sponsored actors in China. The agency is committed to ensuring that telecommunication companies secure their networks effectively.
