Cybersecurity & Tech

What is happening? In 2024 California’s privacy law will go into full effect and looks to change how kids and teens use the Internet. California’s legislation applies to minors up to 18 year olds, and to any service that is “likely to be accessed” by children, whether the service targets them or not. It also prohibits selling data tied to the child and privacy settings must be explained in child friendly language with the strictest privacy setting being the default.

Why is this important? it makes one wonder will California’s standards for children data privacy and protection be much like its automobile standards in that California’s regulation leads the nation.

Governing | California Privacy Law Could Forever Change Internet Use by the Under 18 Set

What’s happening? Minnesota is beginning a new broadband pilot program, Broadband Line Extension Connection Program, that will be driven by broadband users and not ISPs. Every 6 months the state will notify ISPs of the unserved locations and give the ISPs 10 days to offer to provide service. Once an ISP has been identified, service must be provided within 1 year.

Why is this important? This is a new way to look at how to solve the last mile connections for broadband.

Govtech | Minnesota Launches New Program to Connect the Unserved

What is happening? The Federal Government has banned the use of technology from five banned Chinese companies. Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and Vermont have similar state laws. Only Vermont was found to not be using the technology.  

Why is this important? The Center for Security and Emerging Technology indicate that will be virtually impossible to remove all existing software from these companies that is being used by governmental entities.

Route Fifty | Public Entities in Nearly Every State Use Federally-Banned Foreign Tech, Report Says

What is happening? Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network says 2021 is indicating ransomware attack payouts totaling $1.2Billion. That’s a  188% increase from 2020 $416 million. 2017 had $38 million. The word exponential comes to mind for the rapid increase in ransomware payouts year after year.

Why is this important? The 2nd International Counter Ransomware Initiative Summit led to the coalition of 36 countries and the E.U.  pledging to take additional steps to combat ransomware.

Cybersecurity Dive | US ransomware payments surge to $1.2B in 2021: Treasury

What is happening? Crypto has increased its lobbying efforts by 4x over the last 3 years. Questions are arising about policies that prevent a revolving door from government employee to crypto worker.

Why is this important? Congress and states have a varying rules on government employees who leave begin lobbying in the private sector. 200 government employees, from the Treasury Dept, SEC and other agencies, have left for the crypto industry.

CFO Dive | Warren wants regulators to answer for crypto ‘revolving door’

What is happening? A new state ranking lists Nevada as the most crypto-friendly state . Nevada leads the pack by having a high availability of jobs within the crypto industry; crypto-friendly legislation; & a prohibition on local taxation of blockchain technology.

Why is this important? Nevada is followed by Florida, California, New Jersey, Texas, Colorado and Illinois.

CNBC | California isn’t the No. 1 state for cryptocurrency enthusiasts—but it still ranks in the top 7

What is happening? The House of Commons (UK) has approved cryptocurrency as ” regulated financial instruments and products” as part of its proposed Financial Services and Markets Bill, its economic strategy post Brexit.

Why is this important? First, we’re still talking about Brexit? This is the first time cryptocurrency would be regulated in the UK.

CoinDesk | UK Lawmakers Vote to Recognize Crypto as Regulated Financial Instruments

What is happening? Pennsylvania Legislature passed SB696 (2022 | PA) that requires governmental entities in Pennsylvania and government contractors to notify Pennsylvanians of a data breach of personally identifiable information within 1 week. The State Attorney General would also be notified. For local governmental breaches, county attorneys should be notified within 3 days.

Why is this important? Holding government to transparency for data breaches.

Your Eerie News | Sen. Dan Laughlin’s data breach notification legislation heads to Gov. Wolf

What is happening? The Crypto Council for Innovation conducted a poll that found

• 1 in 7 voters own cryptocurrency
• 52% say more regulation is needed
• 45% want legislators to treat crypto like a serious part of the economy
• 50%+ of Blacks and Latinos have a better view of crypto and credit unions than banks

Why is this important? The crypto industry says crypto supports will have an impact on the election as support for crypto is bipartisan and across ethnic groups.

Crypto Council for Innovation | Voters See Promise of Digital Assets and Regulation, Poll Finds

CNBC | Voters want to see more crypto regulation, industry poll finds

What is happening? Texas school districts are distributing finger print and DNA collection for participating students.

Why is this important? has anyone checked whether Texas state laws protect this specific biometric and fingerprint data from disclosure or whether there are standards to protect the safety of this data?

@HoustonChron

What is happening? The Chief Information Officer for New Mexico suggests 4 questions for state agencies when they retain data.

1. What authorizes you to ask for the information?
2. How are you going to use the information?
3. With whom are you going to share the information?
4. And is disclosure of that information by you to us mandatory or optional? 

Government Technology | New Mexico Will Set Data Guidelines With ‘4 Simple Questions’

What is happening? Georgia passed HB 156 (GA | 2022) that limits access to data breach information under the state Public Information Act by excepting data breach reports from state agencies and utilities operating in the state.

Why is this important? Georgia’s legislation says this bill is further its homeland security.

Governing | A Data Breach Is Bad, But Disclosing Too Much Could be Worse

What is happening? The Texas Attorney General announced a lawsuit against Google for unlawfully capturing and using the biometric data of millions of Texans without properly obtaining their informed consent.

Why is this important? Texas has a Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act that prohibits the capturing of biometric data for “exploitation of the personal information of Texans for its own commercial interests.”

Pax­ton Sues Google for its Unau­tho­rized Cap­ture and Use of Bio­met­ric Data and Vio­la­tion of Tex­ans’ Privacy

What is happening? A California Court has determined that releasing gun owner data to academic researchers violates their data privacy.

Why is this important? A California state law (AB 173 | 2021 | CA) permits sharing names and other identifying information of gun owners to researchers studying the effectiveness of gun-violence restraining orders.

Government Technology | California Judge Blocks Sharing of Gun Owner Data

What is happening? The Mayor of Seattle has supported gun shot locating technology for nearly a decade since he was a city council member. The technology installs microphones and triangulates the sound. One of the apps, ShotSpotter, claims a 97% effective rate. Meanwhile in Dayton, OH the city will not renew its ShotSpotter contract because even with successes, it “could not show that the software has done enough to reduce crime to justify its cost”

Why does this matter? A study from Northwest University analyzed 2 years of ShotSpotter data from Chicago, and found that “90% of ShotSpotter alerts lead police to find no evidence to corroborate gunfire.” Shot spotter did change how police officers interacted in the area.

GeekWire | Seattle mayor makes another bid for city to use controversial gunshot detection technology

What is happening? North Dakota is struggling to hire and retain cybersecurity specialists. To help the state hire, when cyber experts can make more in the private sector, the state is:

• Partnering with colleges and universities by creating student security operations centers
• Creating apprentice and internship initiatives
• Allowing for fully remote work
• Cutting the requirement of a college degree like military veterans

Why does this matter? North Dakota is also looking at K-12 initiatives to raise cybersecurity education

Route Fifty | How One State is Trying to Prevent a Cybersecurity Workforce Shortage

What is happening? A new report from National Association of State Chief Information Officers and Deloitte says the best way for states to be prepared for data threats is to work closely and share information with local governmental entities and higher education institutions. There is a $1 Billion federal grant program to help.

Why does this matter? There is a talent gap in cyber security professionals. The State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program assists in bridging the talent gap in the cybersecurity workforce. Some entities don’t want to fund cybersecurity talent because cybersecurity success is measured by nothing happening.

Route Fifty | States Must Work Closer With Locals on Cyber Threats, Survey Finds

What is happening? Hollister Co, or what ever teenager knows as Abercrombie & Fitch Co, is implementing Share2Pay, so kids can share their carts with their parents, who will foot the bill. Fun. Retailers are looking for means to convert cart abandonment into sales.

Why does this matter? Its like Amazon Teen or Apple Ask to Buy which convert kids shopping carts into carts payable by an adult. Some retailers have experimented with online shopping carts for kids as young as 3.

Wall Street Journal | Hollister Lets Teens Send Their Online Carts to Parents for Checkout

What is happening? State Officials in Texas have publicly welcomed crypto mining to Texas earlier this year. Rural Texas is lapping it up because it represents a new tax base. The new crypto tax base is allowing property taxes reductions, sheriff pay increases, money for bridges and roads, and better services.

Why does this matter? Money money money

Texas Tribune | Cryptocurrency miners line up to come to Texas, and rural counties are welcoming them

What is happening? Never did I anticipate typing Kim Kardashian into this curate information aggregating site. Here we are the SEC this week levied a fine of $1.26 million for failing to disclose to her Instagram followers that she was financially compensated for promoting EthereumMax. The fine was announced by the SEC Chair in a tweet. Welcome to 2022.

Why does this matter? Tea Leaf readers say it is a sign the SEC will explore more enforcement rules in crypto.

Forbes | Kim Kardashian Fined For Cryptocurrency Promotion, Here’s What It Means For Crypto

What is happening? California Governor has signed AB1242 (2022 | CA) that prevents California tech companies from responding to warrants concerning geolocation data, search histories and other personal information in response to out-of-state search warrants unless there is a statement that sys this information is not related to abortion related services.

Why does this matter? {ending litigation in Texas concerns the enforcement mechanism that allows private citizens to sue people who assist a person seeking an abortion out of Texas.

Governing | Big Tech Can’t Comply With Other States’ Abortion Warrants

What is happening? People are talking about the democratization of the municipal market. If people can buy municipal debt at amounts lower than $5K, say $100, you’ve crowd funded municipal debt. We’ve talked this space about Berkeley CA talking about issuing micro bonds relying on blockchain.

Why does this matter? China is already democratizing debt by offering 70 billion Yuan in microbonds.

Route Fifty | How Cryptocurrency Could Help to ‘Crowdfund’ Public Projects

What is happening? This week the Bitcoin Policy Institute released a white paper, Why the U.S. Should Reject Central Bank Digital Currencies.

Why is this important? The rational includes the authoritarian shift in U.S. government moving the U.S. toward Chinese regime. Further saying that “Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) represent an extension of this state control over economic life.”

How will this be important? The suggested solution:

“Clearly, individuals and organizations need to transact digitally with fiat currencies, and the current global banking system often makes those transactions slow and expensive. To solve this problem, cryptographic stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies and backed 1:1 with hard collateral can be issued by private banks worldwide.”

@TXBitcoinFound

What is happening? Colorado started accepting crypto to pay personal and business tax obligations.

Why is this important? The practical payment issues at play: Colorado requires that the entire invoice be paid in crypto, no splitting payments. A service fee will attach to the payment of $1 plus 1.83% of the payment amount. Finally, payment must be made by PayPal’s Cryptocurrencies Hub

How will this be important? It creates a safe way for cannabis industry to make payments in stead of the all cash payments that are usually made.

Route Fifty | Colorado Now Accepts Crypto for State Tax Payments

What is happening? California joins Texas and Virginia by allowing for enforcement, civil legal action, when a person receives unwanted sexually explicit images or videos

Why is this important? Un like the Texas law, the California law does not create a crime.

How will this be important? Some say this is another example of how states are leading the push for legislation to curtail cyber issues like data privacy, children’s online safety, and digital harassment

Washington Post | States are moving to penalize ‘cyber-flashing’

What is happening? Social media told a story of a van in Connecticut carrying ballots during the 2020 election as having crashed and the ballots lost. The story was untrue but went viral.

Why is this important? Connecticut has hired a misinformation specialist and has a $2million project to ensure accurate election information.

How will this be important?  Colorado Secretary of the State Jena Griswold created the Rapid Response Election Security Cyber Unit &  California has an office of election security.

Route Fifty | States Take New Steps to Stop Election Mistruths From Going Viral

What is happening? Digital Equity became a growing concern due to COVID when access to internet went from important to required. Now governments big and small are trying to figure out how to meet and prioritize digital equity.

Why is this important? It is not only digital access but also how the technology can help “ease barriers toward equity for different groups.”

How will this be important? This isn’t just about wifi speeds but also how to get seniors easier access to transportation coupons and services, utilizing human-centered design techniques for government forms so that all residents feel dignified, modernizing municipal fee structures so new companies find it easier to enter your market, &  enabling more innovative public-private partnerships.

Route Fifty | How Three Cities Across the Nation are Tackling Digital Equity

What is happening? There are no federally set standards for measuring broadband service speeds. Does your state set broadband speeds or is it the usual “up to a certain speed?” Would you buy up to a full bottle of wine?

Why is this important? Consumer should get what they think they are getting- the highest speed, and now that the government is involved in broadband access, and broadband speed- they too want to know what speed is actually being delivered.

How will this be important? The government is just like us- they want to know what they are paying for. The concern about discrepancies between advertised and actual speeds is real.

Route Fifty | The National Broadband Rollout Lacks Accurate Data About Internet Speeds

What is happening? Ethereum management is pivoting. Pivoting green. Pivoting to clean emissions. Atheneum’s new management will slash its carbon emissions by 99.95%.

Why is this important? Ethereum is moving from blockchain to Beacon chain. Blockchain uses a  “proof of work” model and Beacon chain uses a ““proof of stake” model that uses less energy.

How will this be important? Whether this impacts more crypto will depend upon whether crypto-miners redirect their tech to produce other currencies instead. “Peter Howson, a professor of international development at the U.K.’s Northumbria University, says a successful merge for Ethereum could encourage regulators to crack down on other crypto systems’ careless energy use. “

Corporate Knights | Now that Ethereum has gone green, will regulators make other crypto follow suit? 

What is happening? Let’s first commend Politico for the headline of all headline on this niche topic of node regulation: Node Country for Old Regulators. Now for the nitty gritty, the SEC has filed a crypto enforcement in the western District of Texas and within that is an argument that because a large enough group of nodes in the blockchain are in the U.S., thereby judicial enforcement is possible.

Why is this important? There’s nary any specific legal nor regulatory authorities in the U.S. on blockchain that makes up the backbone of crypto. There are judicial principles of how you can get a party into court, and the SEC is jumping on it. by saying the U.S. hosts 46% of the nodes for ethereum.

How will this be important? The issue of how to get economic activity that occurs on blockchain, decentralized computer network activity, into a court’s jurisdiction is here to stay. Hello lawmakers and regulators… you’re up to bat.

Politico | Node country for Old Regulators

What is happening? Electronic trading giant Citadel Securities, brokerages Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab Corp., and high-speed trading firm Virtu Financial Inc. and venture-capital firms Sequoia Capital and Paradigm announced EDX Markets this Tuesday.

Why is this important? No timeline for the launch but it will serve both individual and institutional investors

How will this be important? EDX said the operations of the exchange would be separated from the firms that trade on its marketplace, which “will remove significant conflicts of interest that affect existing cryptocurrency exchanges.”

Wall Street Journal | Fidelity, Schwab, Citadel Securities Plan to Launch New Crypto Exchange

What is happening? The national blockchain association has formed a PAC.

Why is this important? Blockchain Association’s PAC to support pro-crypto candidates to the tune of 10s of millions before November 2022.

How will this be important? “Donors from the industry have given $72.8 million to federal candidates and committees from January 2021 through July, a Bloomberg analysis of Federal Election Commission records shows. That total surpasses the $70.6 million given by the oil and gas industry, the $55.4 million given by the transportation sector and the $25.4 million given by the defense companies over the same period.”

Bloomberg | Crypto Trade Group for Circle, Kraken Seeks Clout With PAC to Spread Cash Haul

What is happening? Center for Data Innovation report calls for state legislation to pass laws with “tougher enforcement of penalties on companies that solicit or write fake reviews.” The report also recommends laws that “prevent people from getting hit with lawsuits over negative reviews they write.”

Why is this important? Online reviews affected $3.8 trillion of global e-commerce revenue in 2020

How will this be important? “In 2013, the New York state attorney general created a fake yogurt shop to solicit offers from companies that leave fake reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp. In all, 19 companies were identified, and the perpetrators agreed to stop writing reviews and pay $350,000 in fines. ” Wow. Just wow.

Governing | States Should Crack Down on Bogus Online Reviews, Advocates Say

What is happening? A crypto mining holding company purchased an office building in the Greater Houston area that has a contiguous 1000,000 sq. feet of underground data center space that is “ready to receive approximately 15MW of power capacity.”

Why is this important? It can connect quickly to the grid. There is also talk of renewable generation site by developing incremental power on 30 contiguous acres. 

How will this be important? Greenidge Technology Holdings has halted all new cryptomining in Texas, and is focusing on existing facilities in North Carolina and New York.

DCD | Cryptomining holding firm acquires underground data center in Texas

What is happening? The most reliable COVID rate data is found in wastewater, not in positive test results. Waste water COVID data is more reliable and economical to collect.

Why is this important? Although waster water COVID data is more accurate, funding for collecting COVID data in wastewater has been unreliable.

How will this be important?  There are now “1,000 CDC-funded surveillance sites are now operational across the U.S. The agency expects 200 more to start collecting data within the next few months.”

Governing | Wastewater Produces Better COVID Data, But Is Inconsistent

What is happening? The Maine Technology Asset Fund is a state-funded $45 million business development program that has served almost 30 Maine companies since 2019. The kicker- it’s allegedly steeped in privacy with very little public information.

Why is this important? The lack of public disclosure was enshrined in 1999 when the program was created. Now, the Legislature looks to review it and see what light needs to shine.

How will this be important? The grant program requires recipient companies to make investments, the program is capped at a certain amount, and receive payments based on performance.

Governing | Despite Secrecy, Maine’s Tech Investment Program Protects Taxpayers

What is happening? Revealing a mobile phone user’s precise location is an issue when that mobile phone user has a restraining order against a violent former partner. Privacy advocates say there isn’t enough consistency, that while the FCC controls, 3rd party contracts can let geolocation information through.

Why is this important? Laws and technology do not innovate at the same pace. Technology is like light speed and laws are like a sloth. With the added fun of states also having ability to enforce their own data privacy laws.

How will this be important? According to the FCC, “Continued reliance on such attenuated consent mechanisms and ineffective monitoring tools apparently did not meet the reasonableness requirement,” so letting consumers decide might not be the best choice.

Route Fifty | Lax State Data Privacy Rules May Expose Consumer Location Information

What is happening? For 12 years in a row healthcare data breaches have been the costliest. Since 2020 costs are up 20% and in year over year terms, the average cost is up $1M to $10.1 million.

Why is this important? The 2nd costliest industry for data breaches is finance and its average annual cost is $6 million.

How will this be important? “Across all industries, the average cost of a data breach was $9.4 million in the U.S.”

Healthcare Dive | Healthcare remains costliest industry for data breaches

What is happening? California is considering SB892 (2022 | CA) that requires California’s Office of Emergency Management to “develop, propose and adopt optional reporting requirements” for food and agriculture industry entities and cooperatives and water/wastewater systems.

Why is this important? Emergency Management Services will provide a “strategic, multiyear outreach plan” to help these organizations boost cybersecurity

How will this be important? The bill also prohibits reported cyber attacks from being available from public information.

Government Technology | California IT Bills Survive as Legislative Deadline Nears

What is happening? Texas Comptroller’s Fiscal Note for August 2022 highlights crypto mining. Turns out there is no way to know how many crypto mining operations are up and running in Texas because there is no registration requirement.

Why is this important? Crypto it is said is looking for 3 things: electricity availability, electricity rates, and the speed by which electricity can be delivered. By example, the Whinstone Crypto Mine operating in Rockdale, TX is housed in a former Alcoa Steel Facility. A modest size crypto mine is said to use the same amount of electricity as downtown Dallas. Whinstone has had a positive economic impact on Rockdale from job creation to city tax revenues.

How will this be important? By 2030 it is estimated that crypto mining in texas could use the same amount of electricity as the City of Houston.

State of Texas Comptroller | Cryptocurrency in Texas

What is happening? By the end of 2022, 30% of states will join the  Joint-Cybersecurity Operations Command Center. The Center was founded in North Dakota. 20% of states are currently members of the Center that facilitates interstate cooperation on cybersecurity and threat intelligence. 

Why is this important? “If one state is being attacked, the others will most likely be targeted next,” North Dakota’s Chief Information Security Officer Michael Gregg said in a statement.

How will this be important? Prior to the Center’s formation there was no response sharing, and now more than 13,000 organizations including state and local governments, providing “incident response and remediation.”

Route Fifty | Interstate Cyber Command Center Expands to 10 States

What is happening? The EU has created a new regulatory position, it will “create a sixth “Anti-Money Laundering Authority” (AMLD6) that will be specifically responsible for regulating the cryptocurrency industry.”

Why is this important? AMLD6 will have direct control over the crypto market. It is described by the EU parliament as ““EU-level supervision consisting of a hub and spoke model – i.e. supervisor at the EU level competent for direct supervision of certain financial institutions (FIs), indirect supervision/coordination of the other FIs, and a coordination role for supervising the non-financial sector as a first step.”

How will this be important? The US, states, other countries, are all trying to figure out crypto regulation. Here’s a roadmap, take what you want, leave behind what you don’t like.

EU Parliament | AMLD6

The BLOCK | The EU is on the verge of creating a new AML regulator that will oversee crypto

What is happening? VIXIO, a regulatory intelligence firm, estimates that if every state that has land based casinos or mobile sports betting adopted gaming the annual tax revenue would be $6.35 billion.

Why is this important? Huge untapped market. States could access billions in tax revenue.

How will this be important? Annual iGaming revenue from 42 states is estimated to exceed $30 billion

Casino.org | iGaming Could Generate $6.35B in Annual Taxes, Study Finds

What is happening? Twitch users are reporting that SWATing, or swatting, calling in a fake crime to cause SWAT to enter a home of a gaming or social media person with the intent to harass them.

Why is this important? As a LGBTQ twitch streamer noted when she was SWATed, her life was in danger.

How will this be important? SWATing has resulted in at least 1 death.

@WashingtonPost

What is happening? The Texas Attorney General will be issuing an opinion on whether school districts can  to contract with a vendor for security services for services that include facial recognition software.

Why is this important? Texas Business and Commerce Code chapter 305 has limits on biometric data- from back in the early 2000s when personal privacy was super important in Texas.

How will this be important? It is a measure off where the far right in Texas is on privacy.

RQ-0473-KP

What is happening? The U.S. House Financial Services Committee wants Diversity, Equity & Inclusion data from cryptocurrency players.

Why is this important? The Committee wants to ensure that the U.S. financial services system works for all.

How will this be important? ” The committee has singled out 20 firms it believes to be the “largest crypto, Web3, and digital assets companies,” as well as venture capital firms in the space. These include Aave, Andreessen Horowitz, Binance.US, Circle, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), Crypto.com, Digital Currency Group, FTX, Gemini, Haun Ventures, Kraken, OpenSea, PancakeSwap, Paradigm, Paxos, Ripple, Sequoia Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Tether, and UniSwap. “

CoinGeek | US lawmakers calls for diversity and inclusion data from 20 digital assets firms

What is happening? The Wall Street Journal reports that “Securities and Exchange Commission issued a proposal Wednesday that would require large hedge funds to report their cryptocurrency exposure through a confidential filing known as Form PF.”

Why is this important? Crypto is not heavily regulated and now we’re seeing a scramble for regulation and oversight.

How will this be important? Regulators are getting twitchy because of ac concern of financial collapse if crypto holdings extend too far into traditional financial institutions before regulations are in place.

Wall Street Journal | Regulators Weigh Asking Hedge Funds to Report Crypto Exposure

What is happening? The federal CHIPS and Science Act funds create 20 “regional technology and innovation hubs.”

Why is this important? $10 billion will be allocated to the Department of Commerce over 4 years to fund 20 hubs. At least 3 hubs will be placed in each of the Economic Development Administration’s six regions.

How will this be important? Facts sheets say that the hubs will “position communities throughout the country to lead in high-growth, high-wage sectors such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and clean energy technology.”

Route Fifty | Semiconductor Bill to Fund 20 Regional Technology Hubs

What is happening? Two weeks after New Orleans Police Department began using facial recognition software, City Council passed additional ordinances governing its use.

Why is this important? The new ordinances prohibit the software’s use for violations or crimes related to Lousiana’s abortion law or sex crimes between adults. The software may be used with permission from the State Police for certain crimes such as  violent crimes, including shootings, carjackings and rapes.

How will this be important? Overturning of Roe v. Wade is impacting a wide range of existing state laws and its ordinances.

Times-Picayune via Governing | New Orleans City Council Regulates Facial Recognition

What is happening? Gucci leads all retailers in accepting crypto.  70% of its full, directly operated stores accept crypto. Gucci says it likes the spirit of adventure.

Why is this important? Gucci was the first brand to accept crypto, and this week was the first brand to accept ApeCoin. This week as in the week that includes August 4, 2022- what a roller coaster!

How will this be important? Forbes: “Bitcoin and Ethereum, for instance, are bouncing back after a major crash in June 2022. But the fascination with block-chain based currency endures.”

Forbes | Gucci Leads In Crypto Transactions

What is happening? The list of U.S. Senators working on crypto legislation includes: Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and John Boozman, R-Ark.;  Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa; Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo;

Why is this important? There’s a host of ideas. In order of the authors proposals these bill will:

• Give regulatory authority to Commodities Futures Trading Commission which is the crypto industry’s fave choice
•  Stablecoin TRUST Act, that would create a framework to regulate stablecoins
• Responsible Financial Innovation Act would set definitions and give the IRS  to adopt guidance on merchant acceptance of digital assets and charitable contributions

How will this be important? The proposals are all bipartisan. Something they can agree on- they’ve got to fix the anarchy of crypto.

AP | New crypto oversight legislation arrives as industry shakes

What is happening? The Net Neutrality and Broadband Justice Act defines  broadband internet access as a telecommunications service granting authority to the Federal Communications Commission to reinstate net neutrality protections. 

Why is this important?  FCC could then prohibit discriminatory practices like blocking, throttling and paid prioritization online.

How will this be important? The public policy goals are to enhance public safety, increase accessibility, close the digital divide, and protect consumers.   

SENATORS MARKEY, WYDEN AND REP. MATSUI INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO REINSTATE NET NEUTRALITY, REVERSE DAMAGING TRUMP-ERA DEREGULATION 

Route Fifty | Bill Aims To Reclassify Broadband As Essential To Promote Net Neutrality

What is happening? The National Credit Union Administration is proposing a 72 hour reporting requirement for cyber incidents at credit unions.

Why is this important? It places Credit Unions on par with critical infrastructure in reporting cyber incidents.

How will this be important? The credit union regulator calls this 72 hour standard the prudent action.

Inside Cybersecurity | Credit union regulator proposes 72-hour incident reporting rule, sets requirements for third-party vendors

What is happening? Congress is working on a federal semi conductor bill to promote US manufacturing of semi conductors. The US Senate approved  $54.2 billion in subsidies to expand semiconductor production and other technology initiatives.

Why is this important? Samsung announced its $17 billion semi conductor manufacturing facilities in Taylor Texas could expand to  $192 billion to build 11 fabrication plants, creating a total of 10,000 job.

How will this be important? The ultimate goal is to lessen foreign supply chain issues that have been plaguing 2021 and 2022.

Route Fifty | Why Cities and Towns See a Huge Economic Opportunity in the Semiconductor Bill

What is happening? The FCC Chair is proposing increasing the national broadband standard to 100 megabits per second for download and 20 Mbps for upload – the current standard of 25 Mbps upload and 3 Mbps download speed standard was set in 2015.

Why is this important? COVID has states in the process of rolling out better broadband to underserved areas.

How will this be important? The FCC Chair also wants the FCC to consider “affordability, adoption, availability and equitable access” when it determines whether broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion. 

Route Fifty | FCC Chair Pushes for Gigabit Speed Broadband

What is happening? Wyoming’s SF0038 (2021 | WY) created the legal framework for a new corporate structure known as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO). Vermont and Tennessee are making similar rules.

Why is this important? DAOS are now worth $21 Billion. The company functions like this:

• it is web based
• any investor has voting rights based on the number of shares the investor buys
• normal business decisions are taken by automated digital execution
• enforced by smart contracts

How will this be important? The summarized principle behind DAOs: “Shareholders vote on everyday executive decisions made by the company, sometimes even bringing certain issues up for vote themselves. It’s a more direct form of corporatized democracy”

Governing | Can We Turn Shareholders into Public Decision-Makers?

What is happening?  Jon Cunliffe, Bank of England’s deputy governor for financial stability calls for crypto regulations

Why is this important? He said, “technology can change the way risks are managed and distributed, it cannot eliminate them”

How will this be important?

Innovators, alongside regulators and other public authorities, have an interest in the development of appropriate regulation and the management of risk.–Jon CunliffeDEPUTY GOVERNOR, BANK OF ENGLAND

CNBC | Crypto needs regulation — technology can’t remove all financial risks, BOE’s Cunliffe says

What is happening? Pennsylvania Governor has signed HB 2142 (2022 | PA) that would utilize National Guard to help train local governments on cyber security prevention.

Why is this important? The author says the bill affords the “Pennsylvania National Guard the ability and authority to provide functional support for cybersecurity across the commonwealth and it increases that communication ability amongst our agencies.” “

How will this be important? By open communication and providing access to local governments, Pennsylvania could unlock better state cyber security.

Route Fifty | A State Turns to Its National Guard to Provide Cybersecurity Training to Local Governments

What is happening? States are investigating crypto lenders as multiple cyrpto lenders have suspended transactions. California  Department of Financial Protection and Innovation is taking the lead for the state.

Why is this important? Issues that will be investigated include whether customers were made aware of the potential risks

How will this be important? In recent months the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation has determined that “some crypto interest accounts from such sites constituted unregistered securities after conducting an investigation.”

The Crypto Currency Post | California Launches An Investigation Into Crypto Companies

What is happening? 23 states have Cyber Task Forces created by Executive Order. 7 States have legislatively created cyber task forces.

Why is this important? A commonality among the recommendations: centralization

How will this be important? Governments aren’t just open to ransomware but also to open source software vulnerabilities, phishing emails, outdated legacy code 

Governing | What State Cybersecurity Task Forces Have Accomplished So Far

What is happening? Vauld froze transactions after  users pulled almost $200 million over the last three weeks

Why is this important? It is on the heels of Voyager Digital suspending transactions, Celsius Network LLC paused transactions, and Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital Ltd has been ordered to liquidate

How will this be important? Regulation, regulation, regulation…. do laws cover how people get access to their assets? Do laws cover custody of the assets?

Wall Street Journal | Peter Thiel-Backed Crypto Lender Vauld Suspends Withdrawals

What is happening? A federal policy maker suggested digital passports for cryptocurrency would make ransomware less likely.

Why is this important? The crypto ID proposal would have a biometric element to make hackers and ransomeware less lucrative.

How will this be important? regulators will look to keep digital privacy while insuring greater identity requirements for crypto to keep good actors in and bad actors out.

Route Fifty | ‘Crypto Driver’s License’ Could Deter Use of Digital Currency in Ransomware

What is happening? Everyone talks ransomware, but the key to a ransomware attack is recovery of your data.

Why is this important? “Last year the total cost of recovering from a ransomware attack was $1.85 million—10 times the average ransomware payment—with businesses often facing several weeks of disruption after an attack.”

How will this be important? A ransomware recovery plan minimizes costs.

SC Magazine | In the era of ransomware, recovery has become as important as prevention

What is happening? At the annual meeting of the US Conference of Mayors, the mayors say blockchain offers a unique opportunity and support sharing best practices.

Why is this important? “cities need coherent guidelines for the testing, adoption and use of blockchain technologies to help communities grow their economies and better deliver public services”

How will this be important? An author of the blockchain resolution was Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve. Reno announced a pilot program to put the city’s registry of historic properties on the blockchain.

Governing | Mayors Endorse an Array of Emerging Technologies

What is happening? Wyoming is considering accepting crypto currency for political contributions, setting the value of the contribution to the value of the crypto on the day it was contributed.

Why is this important? WY may do this by rule and not statute

How will this be important? For Wyoming, a concern is that is they don’t tie the value to the time of the contribution, “…an appreciating asset may run afoul of election contribution limits.”

Governing | Wyoming Committee Considers Crypto Political Donations

What is happening? The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency “reported Friday, June 3, that voting touchscreens used in Georgia have security vulnerabilities that put them at risk to hacking attacks.”

Why is this important? recommended solutions include: increase security by conducting rigorous audits, strengthening physical protections of equipment and patching outdated software, and eliminate bar codes that are printed on ballots, which could be manipulated to change how votes are recorded. 

How will this be important? Election integrity experts say voters should verify their ballots before casting.

Atlanta Journal Constitution via Governing | Georgia Voting Touchscreens Pose Cybersecurity Risk

What is happening? When state services shifted online the websites responded with graphics; however as we’ve shifted to mobile services those graphics should be replaced by text according to Governing column.

Why is this important? Civic engagement platform ProudCity CEO says there is a ” government obligation to make information and services readily accessible and widely available” “Add artificial intelligence to the massive amount of text generated by government and you have a new and potentially powerful approach to modernization.”

How will this be important? Examples of text based resident services are:  boston.gov  Texas by Texas beta.ssa.gov 

Governing | Making the Case for Simple, Text-Based Government Websites

What is happening? Protecting Personal Data such as cell phone location tied to health information, such as seeking reproductive health care, is deemed as crucial if and when Roe is overturned.

Why is this important? Reproductive health clinics have returned to paper records to avoid a digital trail if data brokers selling this information.

How will this be important? Data marketplaces pledged to stop selling data culled from period-tracking apps, but will they is the ultimate question.

Washington Post Cyber Security 202 | A threat to abortion is prompting long-demanded reforms to the data broker industry

What is happening? Coinbase is shrinking its size (AKA laying off 18% of its staff) because of the crypto winter, it’s like the Game of Thrones- Winter is Coming.

Why is this important? Crypto Winter, is not Game of Thrones, there are no night walkers just an economic time period when price is “contract[ing] and remain[s] low for an extended period.”

How will this be important? Bit coin this year has lost more than half of its value.

NPR | Coinbase lays off 18% of its workforce. The CEO cites an upcoming crypto winter

What is happening? The majority of an ethics board for a drone production resigned over concerns about a drone equipped with a taser. The company halted the taser drone and then….

Why is this important? After the tragedy in Uvalde, TX the company reinstated its development of the taser drone.

How will this be important? A law professor says “What’s the emergency? School shootings are a crisis. I agree,” Friedman said. “But Axon, on its own best timeline, isn’t going to come up with anything for a couple of years. Why was it necessary to jump ahead like this?”

AP | Axon halts plans for Taser drone as 9 on ethics board resign

What is happening? A blockchain software company purchased $1 million in carbon credits.

Why is this important? The blockchain credits are for a 46-acre forest in Issaquah, Wash.

How will this be important? The money that the sale generated will help fund local forest management programs. It’s the largest carbon credit purchase of its kind in US history.

Seattle Times | Blockchain company buys $1M in carbon credits generated by Issaquah forest, the biggest such deal in U.S. history

What is happening? New York legislature passed a  “Green CHIPS” bill that will provide tax credits for green semi conductor manufacturers.

Why is this important? $500 million a year in state tax credits in exchange for at least 500 new jobs; spending at least $3 billion in capital investment over a period of ten years; spending $15 for every $1 of state incentives; and including “sustainability measures” to mitigate the “project’s greenhouse gas emissions impact over its lifetime.”

How will this be important? The legislation looks to gain favor if Congress passes its proposed  $52 billion subsidy program to move chip manufacturing back to the US

Governing | New York Legislature Passes Largest Industry-Specific Tax Break

What is happening? Lousiana is considering HR 180 (2022 | LA) that will require a study into whether candidates can accept campaign contributions in the form of crypto currency.

Why is this important? The Federal Election Committee has an opinion that allows for the acceptance of crypto but as an in-kind contribution

How will this be important? This comes on the heels of other crypto legislation this year like in VA where state chartered banks can serve as custodians for crypto; and SB22-025 (2022 | CO) that would allow security token offerings for state capital financing.

The Block | Louisiana bill proposes study on crypto campaign donations

What is happening? After pressure from crypto miners the nation’s first proposal to halt crypto mining is no more.

Why is this important? The legislation met its demise after the “crypto crash” in May.

How will this be important? The policy considerations were the short term economic benefit of crypto mining and the long term environmental impact of crypto mining.

Politico | Cryptocurrency mining moratorium stalls in New York State Senate

What is happening? Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium wants to cut down on Parmesan fraud. Yes, you read that correctly. Cheese Fraud. So, to ensure product quality, makers are embedding trackers into wheels of cheese.

Why is this important? Let’s say I’m the type of person who does taste tests of waters, salts, oils, Parmesan….taste matters. And if there’s only one place in the world where this cheese can be made to the exacting standards of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium then trackers it is.

How will this be important? fraudulent cheese is a $2.08 billion market.

@foodandwine

What is happening? Miami, New York, Austin and other cities have been incorporating digital currency into municipal operations. Then in May crypto losses totaled more than $1 trillion.

Why is this important? MiamiCoin and NewYorkCityCoin are at record-lows, however, the cities have not suffered financial losses because the cities do not own or invest in the cryptocurrency and do not accept it as payment. Locals who invested in the crypto have experienced losses.

How will this be important? Academics say that “mayors who encourage investment in their cybercoins are “actively encouraging people to participate in a scheme.” Supporters of crypto also say these losses bolster a need for regulation.

Route Fifty | Cities That Hyped Crypto Are Now Contending With the Crash

What is happening? As a result of COVID and a ransomware attack, Lincoln College, a predominantly Black college, in Iowa is closing after 157 years. 157 years!

Why is this important? After making costly tech investments to accommodate COVID, in December 2021, a ransomware attack “walled off the school’s access to its data and halted its recruitment, retention and fund-raising campaigns.”

How will this be important? a forewarning for other institutions.

Government Technology | Lincoln College Closure Is Just Another Ransomware Milestone

What is happening? Cities are being priced out of cyber insurance. Premium rates are rapidly increasing while at the same time warnings of hackers increase since the invasion of the Ukraine. Some cities are responding by self insuring. Some are ensuring that their vendor contracts require quick notification, and some adopt technology that can automatically check their websites for vulnerabilities.

Why is this important? 49% of city agencies that experience ransomware pay the ransom.

How will this be important? Led to cities self insuring. States are passing legislation that prevents the payment of ransoms.

Government Technology | Local Governments Seek Other Options Amid Cyber Insurance Woes

What is happening? Cleveland’s  Community Police Commission has offered recommendations concerning technology use by law enforcement. Created in 2015 as a result of investigations into excessive use of force.

Why is this important? This oversight commission has the goal of protecting residents’ civil rights.

How will this be important? The recommendations support embracing new technologies while establishing best practices for a “successful, crime prevention strategy without sacrificing trust or impacting civil liberties,”

Governing | Cleveland Commission Advises Oversight on Emerging Police Tech

What is happening? COVID led hospitals to increase their internet capable technologies to limit contact and improve communication of health care information.

Why is this important? This rapid use of new technology by hospitals also gave nefarious hackers an opportunity. Hacks have led to delayed surgeries, cancer treatment, lab results, maturity appointments and more.

How will this be important? “In 2020 and 2021, there were at least 168 ransomware attacks affecting 1,763 clinics, hospitals and health care organizations in the U.S., according to Brett Callow, a threat analyst for cybersecurity company Emsisoft.”

Route Fifty | Ransomware Attacks on Hospitals Put Patients at Risk

What is happening? This month, Gucci will begin accepting crypto currency at US stores.

Why is this important? Gucci has identified 10 tokens it will accept including bitcoin and Ether.

How will this be important? How many more luxury retailers will follow suit

@bloombergbusiness

What is happening?  Fort Worth has activated 3 Bitmain Antminer S9s bitcoin mining machines in its Information Technology Solutions Department’s data center

Why is this important? As far as I have seen Ft Worth is the 1st city to mine crypto. The machines were donated by Texas Blockchain Council

How will this be important? This is a 6 month pilot project. It is estimated that each machine will use the same energy as a household vacuum cleaner & generate ample bitcoin to cover the cost of the power. Lets see if any other cities jump on board.

Put Fifty | A City Government Begins Mining for Bitcoin

What is happening? The mayor of Reno, NV is considering selling an NFT of a city sculpture

Why is this important? Revenue. NFTs were a $25 Billion business last year.

How will this be important? How many other items can cities or local governments convert to NFTs and sell to gain revenue. NFTs the new local government merch.

Route Fifty | Bored Apes, Texting Robots and the Latest Digital Taxation Conundrum

What is happening? India by rule is shortening the data breach notification period to 6 hours. The rules were implemented by the country’s computer emergency response team, CERT-In & apply to  including service providers, data centers, government organizations, and corporations.

Why is this important? By reference, the EU’s GDRP has a 72 hour notification rule

How will this be important? The rules go so far as to list the types of incidents that have to be reported. There are 20 types that have to be reported and start on page 5.

The Daily Swig | India to introduce six-hour data breach notification rule

What is happening? Slow and steady wins the race. The model insurance data security legislation by the National Association of Insurance Commissioner has gained 2 more states. Kentucky & Maryland.

Why is this important? Kentucky HB 474 (2022 |KY) & Maryland SB 207 (2022 | MD) both put requirements on carriers to do things like risk assessments, reporting and compliance.

How will this be important? Both gave carriers a 1 year grace period for a written information security program compliance and a 2 year grace compliance period for  service provider oversight requirements.

National Law Review | Two States Enact Insurance Data Security Laws

What is happening? California is considering  Senate Bill 1275 that would make cryptocurrency tender for purchasing state and local government services- like taxes or vehicle registration.

Why is this important? California State Controller Betty Yee has indicated concerns about consistent financial reporting with cryptocurrency. An economist at Loyola Marymount University said, “I think it is too early, too premature, it is too risky, too volatile.”

How will this be important? California will be a bell weather state for state cryptocurrency legislation.

Sacramento Bee | Could you pay your taxes in Bitcoin? California lawmakers weigh cryptocurrency bills

What is happening? at the FTX and SALT’s Crypto Bahamas event. Crypto miners talked about energy efficiency and regulatory certainty.

Why is this important? The efficiency is focused on their mining by improving hashrate efficiency (the amount of power that a machine requires to produce a bitcoin) & data mining centers becoming more specialized and optimized for lower energy consumption by capturing heat used in mining and converting it to energy.

How will this be important? Bitcoin Mining Council says mining computers are 58% more efficient than they were 8 years ago. Miners also want to work with local grids to serve as a grid stabilizer.

Tech Crunch | Bitcoin miners say energy efficiency and regulatory certainty are crucial for the industry’s success

What is happening? As part of North Carolin’a budget bill it prohibited state and local governments from communicating with ransomware hostage takers.

Why is this important? If anyone watched Texas House Committee on State Affairs this week, you would have heard testimony from Texas DIR that it can cost less to rebuild than to pay a ransomware attacker. It’s economics…

How will this be important? Pennsylvania did a similar thing with passage of SB 726 (2022 | PA) that prohibits the use of public money to pay ransoms. S6806A in New York this year would also prohibit payment to ransomware attackers.

Route Fifty | North Carolina First State to Prohibit Agencies From Paying Ransoms

What is happening? MIT Tech did a dive into the March 2020 crypto hack that resulted the pilfering of  $620 million in the cryptocurrency Ethereum

Why is this important?”In 2021, criminal hackers stole approximately $3.2 billion in cryptocurrency”

How will this be important? The crypto world is moving too fast for seemingly both cybersecurity and regulatory oversight.

MIT Tech Review | A $620 million hack? Just another day in crypto

What is happening? For the last 10 years the FIDO Alliance has been pushing to make smart phone technology a replacement for old passwords.

Why is this important? The idea is your smart phone would authenticate you so passwords would be unnecessary.

How will this be important? FIDO Alliance is 250 companies that are largely in the healthcare and technology world.

Dive Wire | Behind the push to finally eliminate passwords

What is happening? Cowboy Crypto. Cowboys are the first NFL team to announce a crypto currency partnership with blockchain.com

Why is this important? NBA signed a a deal in October with Coinbase. Crypto.com bought naming rights for an arena shared by the Lakers, Clippers, Sparks and Kings. Crypto.com was named a unique digital currency trading platform during the FIFA World Cup

How will this be important? Let’s watch the partnership unfurl.

Bleacher Report | Cowboys Announce Blockchain.com Partnership; 1st Cryptocurrency Deal by NFL Team

Bitcoinist | NFL’s First Crypto Partnership: Dallas Cowboys Partners With Blockchain.com

What is happening? Mississippi is considering HB 1029 (2022 | MS) that creates the Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi office to  create a streamlined, central process for how broadband dollars are doled out for projects.

Why is this important? Mississippi has an exception for open meetings for state offices, but not for state commissions or boards.

How will this be important? I might suggest the takeaway here isn’t the statewide broadband planning in a standalone group, but more importantly may be the dispensing of 100s of millions by a ste office that isn’t subject to open records.

Governing | Mississippi Creates Statewide Broadband Development Office

What is happening? In 2018, West Virginia ran a pilot program testing blockchain to secure voting. Alaska in 2021 proposed legislation, SB 39 (2021 | AK) to build its voting system around blockchain which is considered more tamper proof.

Why is this important? The security of blockchain could also be useful for state issued IDs and for DAOs, Decentralized autonomous organizations

How will this be important? State government isn’t known for expedited adoption of new technology.

West Virginia Secretary of State | Under the Hood Blockchain Voting Pilot

What is happening? Miami Coin has netted the city $5.25 million in revenue but investors not so much as the crypto’s value has fallen.

Why is this important? The city is using the revenue to fund subsidies for low-income residents. 

How will this be important? NYCCoin isn’t faring better, having fallen from close to half a cent at the beginning of February to about a quarter of a cent

Wall Street Journal | MiamiCoin Gets Off to a Rocky Start

What is happening? Crypto Miner, Marathon Holdings is  is cutting the cord with Hardin Generating Station in Montana , because it must be carbon neutral by 2023.

Why is this important? “The Congressional Research Service put the amount of electricity going to crypto mining at 7,670 megawatts in 2019, the equivalent of more than five Colstrip Power Plants.”

How will this be important? This crypto was featured in national publications for being a way to salvage coal generating plants.

KPVI 6 | Crypto miner plans to exit Hardin coal-fired power plant

What is happening? Cyber security insurance rates are rising. Cities re reporting that they are paying twice the cost for half the coverage.

Why is this important? According to a survey 69% of cities have more expensive policies than last year. For the pooled Maryland Local Government Insurance Trust, premiums rose 300%

How will this be important? The Russian invasion of the Ukraine will also test policy clauses that  “war exclusion” and “hostile act exclusion” language in the policies

Route Fifty | Governments Confront Rising Cyber Insurance Rates

What is happening? Houston, Austin, Irving, Rowlett and Beaumont have asked the AG to allow them to seek franchise fees from internet streamers. rlington, Grand Prairie, Allen, Amarillo, Sugar Land, Mesquite, Dallas, Plano, Waco, Abilene, Carrollton, Frisco and Garland are all currently pursuing streaming tax via the existing franchise fees.

Why is this important? Cable franchise fees have been decreasing with streaming. Gotta get the revenue.

How will this be important? Are we defining these internet streamers as utilities….

SE Texas Record | Houston, Austin and three other Texas cities seek AG approval to sue streamers over franchise fees

What is happening? South Dakota Governor is directing $1.25 million for state universities to collaborate to form an agriculture cybersecurity partnership.

Why is this important? The predominant agriculture cybersecurity threat is far equipment which are connected to the internet, and become part of the internet of things.

How will this be important? Not only does farm equipment give access to fertilizer, which comprised the OKC bombing, but also could give access to changing the chemical structure and wipe out a crop.

Government Technology | South Dakota Universities Partner on Agriculture Cybersecurity

What is happening? A survey by HelpSystems asked how cybersecurity changed after COVID.

Why is this important? 53% of respondents said cyber threats were worse after COVID

How will this be important? These concerns are ratcheting up again with Russia’s invasion into the Ukraine.

BankInfoSecurity | How Has COVID-19 Changed CISO Approach to Data Security?

What is happening? Mobile Alabama adopted ShotSpotter, an auditory gunshot detection technology in an effort to reduce gun violence.

Why is this important? Mobile is using American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for the contract that uses audio detection technology to pinpoint where gunshots occur.

How will this be important? City Council added protections limiting long term use and prohibiting data collection. Technology can only be used where people have no reasonable expectation of privacy.

Governing | Mobile’s Gun Violence Reduction Plan Sparks Surveillance Concerns