In a report released Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could do more to expand broadband access on tribal lands. The GAO offered three recommendations to the FCC, which the agency agreed with.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., highlighted the benefits of broadband services for rural areas, and with Democratic control of the House coming in January, offered an optimistic view on the prospects of bipartisan broadband expansion legislation.

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The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has declined to hear a case regarding the legality of Obama-era Net Neutrality rules–putting an end to a lengthy legal battle by declining to hear USTelecom’s appeal. The telecommunication industry group originally sued the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) under the belief that the FCC lacked the authority to impose public-utility, common-carrier obligations on broadband internet access service. Under the Obama-era rules, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were barred from blocking or throttling web content or creating the so-called internet “fast lanes.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced today that it issued $1,272,320 of funding awards to develop new solutions to “improve the capability of organizations to understand and improve their cybersecurity control investment decisions.” The funding will be split between University of California, San Diego and University of Illinois, Chicago.

Following President Trump’s proclamation of November as National Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen released a statement on Wednesday saying she and DHS are “committed to strengthening our efforts to protect and secure the infrastructure on which Americans rely, in close partnership with other Federal agencies, state, local, territorial and tribal governments, and the private sector.”

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker last Friday requested that Maj. Gen. Donald Dunbar, adjutant general of Wisconsin, put the state’s National Guard cyber response teams on standby ahead of the midterm elections.

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