November 18 2022

This Week in Washington 

• CNN: Hackers linked to Russia’s military were very likely behind ransomware attacks last month on Ukrainian and Polish transportation and logistics organizations, Microsoft said Thursday. The revelation will raise concerns in Washington and European capitals that allies supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion could face greater cyber threats from Moscow.
• Washington Post: Almost two years ago, Congress directed the Biden administration to develop a plan to keep the economy functioning in the event of a national-level cyberattack. It’s been crickets ever since.
• Nextgov: Leading cybersecurity and sector risk management officials should consider establishing space and bioeconomy as two new sectors of critical infrastructure, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency wrote in a report to President Joe Biden and relevant congressional committees.
• The Hill: Congress has a busy itinerary in the lame duck session, but some grieving parents believe lawmakers should have a clear legislative priority: protecting minors from the harms they say led to their children’s deaths.
• StateScoop: The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to finally publish the initial draft of its long-awaited high-speed internet coverage maps, marking a major signpost for a $45 billion grant program that’s set to distribute broadband development funds to states and localities beginning next year.
• Axios: Lawmakers from both parties who back stricter rules for handling kids’ data and accounts online see an opening in the last lame-duck weeks of this Congress.

Article Summary

• MIT Technology Review: With the increasing global population and climate change, regenerative agriculture looks to grow more food with less environmental impact.
• CNN Business: Protocol, the upstart technology news website launched by former Politico owner and publisher Robert Allbritton in early 2020, will shutter later this week and lay off dozens of staffers, people familiar with the matter told CNN on Tuesday.
• Fierce Telecom: The proliferation of gigabit and multi-gig internet services in the U.S. is having ripple effects in the broadband market, spurring even lower-tier customers to adopt faster speeds and boosting the country’s average downstream rate.
• Wall Street Journal: More than 3,400 state, local, tribal and territorial governments in the U.S. suffered ransomware attacks between 2017 and 2021, according to data from the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a threat intelligence group for municipalities.

Tech Highlight

The New York Times: Hard Fork Podcast

• What’s a Hard Fork?
  Hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore stories from the bleeding edge of tech. What’s real? What’s hype? “Hard Fork” is here to help you make sense of it. (Introducing Hard Fork – October 4, 2022)