Overnight Tech: DHS warns Congress on phone security | Apple plans $1B manufacturing fund | Alphabet exec calls high-tech visa cap ‘stupid’

DHS WANTS CONGRESS TO BEEF UP MOBILE SECURITY: The Department of Homeland Security has sent Congress a study warning of security threats to mobile devices used by the federal government.

The study on mobile device security, mandated by a 2015 law, offered a series of recommendations for the U.S. government to safeguard smartphones and tablet computers against threats from nation-states, criminal hackers, and others, DHS said on Thursday.

The study was produced by DHS’ Science and Technology Directorate in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a government body that produces optional standards on information technology and cybersecurity.

“The [study] has found that threats to the mobile device ecosystem are growing, but also that the security of mobile computing is improving,” Dr. Robert Griffin, acting undersecretary for Science and Technology, said.

{mosads}”It outlines several important recommendations to strengthen security that will help the Federal government keep pace with current and emerging threats.”

The study was mandated by the Cybersecurity Act of 2015, legislation aimed at enhancing information sharing about cybersecurity threats. DHS said that the study drew on significant input from the mobile industry and academic researchers.

It outlined a range of threats to mobile devices used by the federal government, including those posed by nation states, organized crime, and hackers, DHS said. It also touched on threat patterns that target consumers, including ransomware, banking fraud, and identity theft.

The study warned that federal government device users could be at increased risk because of their employment. These devices could also be used to attack back-end computer systems that hold sensitive data on Americans and government operations, the study said.  

Recommendations offered by the report include adopting a mobile device security framework and starting an information-sharing program to address mobile malware and vulnerabilities.

Read more here, courtesy of our Morgan Chalfant, our colleague on the cyber beat.

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APPLE ANNOUNCES $1B JOBS INVESTMENT: Apple will put up $1 billion to start a fund geared toward boosting advanced manufacturing in the U.S., Apple CEO Tim Cook said Wednesday.

“I’m proud to tell you that we’re creating an advanced manufacturing fund,” Cook said on CNBC’s “Mad Money.” “We’re initially putting $1 billion in the fund.”

“By doing that, we can be the ripple in the pond,” he added. “Because if we can create many manufacturing jobs around — those manufacturing jobs create more jobs around them, because you have a service industry that builds up around them.”

Cook said Apple would announce the first investment from the fund later in May.

The announcement appears to fit in line with President Trump’s calls to bring manufacturing jobs to the U.S. Cook also applauded the Trump administration’s proposal to lower the corporate tax rate from the current 35 percent.

Read more here.

RURAL BROADBAND COMPANIES SHOW SUPPORT FOR FCC CHIEF: A group of small, rural broadband companies on Thursday praised the Federal Communications Commission’s moves to repeal its net neutrality rules.

The internet providers, all members of the trade group USTelecom, wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai applauding him for his “vision and leadership” in moving to repeal the net neutrality regulations.

The letter expressed support for principles of net neutrality, like treating all web traffic equally, but criticized the FCC’s move to reclassify the broadband providers as telecommunications services, which opened them up to tougher, public utility-style regulation.

“Rural America urgently needs a smarter and more practical approach than rules based on laws written when our grandparents were stringing the countryside with copper and even cattle wire to connect neighbors on old party line telephones,” the letter reads.

Read more here.

ALPHABET CHIEF ON HIGH-TECH VISAS: Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, doesn’t think very highly of U.S. limits on visas for high-skilled immigrants.

“The single stupidest policy in the entire American political system was the limit on H-1B visas,” Schmidt said at an event at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab on Wednesday, according to CNN.

H-1B visas for high-skilled workers are currently capped at 85,000 annually. Those visas filled were within five days this year, something that has repeatedly happened in recent years. Critics argue this means the program should be expanded.

But President Trump signed an executive order last month calling for tougher oversight of the program to cut down on potential fraud.

Read more here.

QUALCOMM SEEKING IPHONE IMPORT BAN: Qualcomm is reportedly planning to ask a government trade agency to ban iPhone imports, the latest salvo in a long fight with Apple.

The chipmaker will make the request to the International Trade Commission, a source told Bloomberg. The quasi-judicial agency has the power to bar certain goods from coming into the United States. Apple iPhones are manufactured in Asia.

Qualcomm and Apple have been locked in a long legal battle sparked over patents the chipmaker holds that allow it to charge royalties on many smartphones, even if the device doesn’t use its chips. Apple argues that this isn’t fair and has accused Qualcomm of unfair trade practices.

Read more here.

FCC CHIEF TO DELIVER SPEECH ON FIRST 100 DAYS: Ajit Pai, the Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, will deliver a speech on Friday marking 100 days of him leading the regulatory agency.

Pai will give the speech at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

The FCC chair made waves last week with his announcement that he would begin proceedings this month to roll back the agency’s net neutrality rules, which were passed in 2015 and require internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally.

Read more here.

SPACEX WANTS TO LAUNCH BROADBAND-DEPLOYING SATELLITES: SpaceX, the Elon Musk-founded aerospace company, told Congress that it is planning to launch a network of satellites to deliver broadband internet access from space.

During a Senate Commerce hearing on Wednesday, Patricia Cooper, SpaceX’s vice president of satellite government affairs, outlined the company’s plans to deploy a constellation of 4,425 satellites to deliver broadband internet around the world.

According to The Verge, there are currently only an estimated 1,459 satellites in orbit around Earth.

In her written testimony, Cooper told the committee that this approach to providing internet access will reduce the amount of infrastructure needed on the ground, making it easier to bring broadband to underserved areas, like rural communities.

Read more here.

ON TAP:

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will speak at the American Enterprise Institute at noon on Friday.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Multichannel News: The budget bill won’t gut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Axios: Snap is rolling out ad tools to compete with Facebook

Former FCC general counsel joins Steptoe and Johnson

Business Insider: A look at the Waymo, Uber case

Last night’s newsletter incorrectly identified the targets of Fight For The Future’s new billboard campaign. The billboards are targeting members who voted to repeal broadband privacy rules. The Hill regrets the error.