High Tech Blog

  Statement by   Eric Wenger , Senior Director, Technology Policy, Government Affairs: CISA’s new  Cybersecurity Strategic Plan  lays out a clear vision for how the federal government can better secure and defend U.S. critical infrastructure through close, persistent private-public sector collaboration. CISA’s plan correctly focuses on ensuring that critical technologies we rely upon in our daily lives are “Secure by Design and Default.” Our shared goals include reducing the prevalence of vulnerabilities, cutting time to detection and mitigation of vulnerabilities, and decreasing the impact of incidents when they occur. Network resilience is a key aspect of this problem. As a founding member of the  Network Resilience Coalition , Cisco appreciates CISA’s shared commitment to driving focused attention and investment in efforts to secure and maintain existing critical networked technologies.

  Across Europe, people are rethinking what they rely on the internet for: balancing classic demands for speed and reliability, with the growing needs of rising eco-consciousness, secure cloud infrastructure, and the increase of the Internet of Things (IoT) connecting our devices, from smart cars to home appliances. This trend perfectly aligns with the   European Commission’s Digital Decade 2030 , where secure and sustainable digital infrastructure is one of the top 4 priorities. The  2023 Cisco Broadband Survey  finds that as over 68% of consumers in Europe expect to connect cars, appliances, energy and water to the internet, broadband networks must scale to support new connectivity needs. Broadband is also seen by 77% of survey participants in Europe as critical national infrastructure, escalating the need for to accelerate the move towards a more sustainable and secure internet for all. Need for more spectrum confirmed by connectivity increase as consumers ex...

  Today, Cisco announced Nicole Isaac has joined the company’s Government Affairs organization as Vice President of Global Public Policy. Leading a team of experts, Nicole will drive Cisco’s policy agenda to bolster ICT adoption around the world and enable Cisco’s purpose to power an inclusive future for all. Nicole joins Cisco with more than 20 years of diverse experience across the world. In addition to senior roles at Google, Meta, and LinkedIn, her background in government is wide-ranging. After beginning her career as counsel in the U.S. House of Representatives, she became a foreign law clerk at the Constitutional Court of South Africa before joining the office of U.S. Senate Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) as floor counsel. And for five years of the Obama administration, Nicole was the deputy director for legislative affairs to then-Vice President Joe Biden and later served as a special assistant to President Barack Obama in the White House’s Office of Legi...

  The energy sector is facing greater challenges than ever before. Grids must now handle more distributed and variable energy sources from renewables. They must be ready to face dramatic environmental impacts, such as devastating fires and extreme weather conditions like heat waves that can fry a grid   causing blackouts   for days. On top of that, energy utilities face demand from a rapidly transforming industry: not only must they ensure constant reliability and availability of power, they must also adhere to stringent security regulations and meet power grid management requirements. Just a few days ago, Europe’s Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson published an  Opinion piece  outlining the critical need to update the power grid for Europe to meet its climate goals. As she rightly highlighted, the answer to the grid challenge does not necessarily mean building more physical infrastructure, but rather, how digital technologies can support this transition.

  In its August 10, 2023, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Cybersecurity Labeling for Internet of Things (IoT), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asked some intriguing questions about how to improve consumer confidence and understanding of the security of IoT devices. The NPRM seeks input on whether and how the FCC should establish a cybersecurity certification and labeling program. According to the NPRM, more than 25 billion connected IoT devices are predicted to be in operation by 2030, including everything from home office routers to personal digital assistants, Internet-connected home security cameras, voice-activated shopping devices, Internet-connected appliances, fitness trackers, GPS trackers, medical devices, garage door openers, and baby monitors. We are all using more of these than we realize. The FCC’s program is intended to inform consumers about the cybersecurity qualities of the IoT products in the marketplace. In many cases, devices that do not have...

  Today, Cisco announced that it joined more than 200 of the nation’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) stakeholders to participate in a U.S. Department of Commerce initiative to support the development and deployment of trustworthy and safe AI. Established by the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the   U.S. AI Safety Institute Consortium   (AISIC) will bring together AI creators and users, academics, government and industry researchers, and civil society organizations to meet this mission. “Responsible AI offers enormous potential for humanity, businesses, and public services, and Cisco firmly believes that a holistic, simplified approach will help the U.S. safely realize the full benefits of AI. Guided by our own Responsible AI principles and framework, and with over a decade of experience deploying AI at scale, Cisco proudly endorses the mission of AISIC. We are proud to collaborate with NIST and other consortium members...