The advent of digital telephony has revolutionized office communications. Now, instead of a single office number and extension numbers, each office desk phone could have its own direct dial number. Now, when somebody calls you, their desk number can be displayed and you know exactly who is calling you.
Arguably the most significant cybersecurity development of 2015 was a stunner. On Friday, 18 December 2015 – with everyone leaving on the holidays – the U.S. Congress unexpectedly passed the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 and it was immediately signed by the President. It became the organic law of the United States, including far reaching amendments to the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
Wireless infrastructure networks are constantly evolving. Often mobile service providers must maintain multiple generations in order to support new and legacy services. Unfortunately we don’t see this getting any easier anytime soon with the emergence of VoLTE and 5G on the horizon.
It seems a fortuitous coincidence with the publication now occurring of the eWarrant Technical Standard ETSI TS103120, that a kind of legal landmark is occurring on December 1st in the U.S.
Almost every day, the press carries some latest assertion by Apple or assorted self-proclaimed encryption experts that smartphone devices must be unalterably encrypted. A virtual army of bloggers and lobbying groups have joined the fray to ramp up anti-government paranoia and convince users and the public that highly encrypted smartphones are good for the world. Never mind that the capability primarily benefits terrorists and criminals.
Earlier this week on 9 November at a public location outside Washington DC, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security sponsored Initial Public Meeting was held for establishing Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO) Standards. After some initial speeches by DHS officials, the contractor host of the meeting described the efforts and sought to gather information and ideas from the approximately 50+ attendees.
The highlight of the meeting was the approval and publication of TS 103 120: Handover Interface 1: Interface for Warrant Information. This specification defines how law enforcement and other agencies can electronically submit Warrant and Tasking information to Communication Service Providers (CSP). The focus is primarily on LI but leaves room for future extensions to support lawful orders for Retained Data (RD) requests.
In the world of Retained Data and forensics law, perhaps the most significant case on appeal is being argued this coming week at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 9 September at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in New York City. In the rarefied world of LI law, it doesn’t get any better than this. To make the event even more interesting and historic, this past Tuesday, Microsoft’s appellate counsel requested the presence of a Court Reporter to capture an entire record of the oral argument. The counsel for the United States consented, and the court on Thursday granted the request.
For some years, we’ve been observing the convergence among the various LI and CYBER realms. A posting yesterday to the hyperactive new OASIS CTI (Cyber Threat Intelligence) Technical Committee list underscores that evolution. It described a surprisingly mature new protocol dubbed DFAX – Digital Forensic Analysis eXpression.
The Rural Wireless Association kicks off its summit in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 9 – 1, 2015
