Tech staff in the US government will soon be going back to work.
Recently, President Donald Trump and Democratic lawmakers reached a deal to reopen the federal government for three weeks. The closure which began on December 22, stalled workers at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who were forced to idle on safety reviews of tech products. Other federal workers charged with maintaining government websites couldn’t get into the office, allowing many security certificates to expire. The FCC regulates the radio, television and phone industries, while the FDA certifies medical tech devices.
Before the government can reopen, both houses of Congress must approve a bill authorizing funds, which must then be signed by Trump. When that happens, agencies like FCC and FDA can resume operations.
“This is good news for businesses regulated by the FCC because now they can finally move forward with merger approvals, rulemakings, complaint proceedings, and equipment authorizations,” said Marc Martin, who heads Perkins Coie’s communications industry group.
The FCC furloughed 80 per cent of its staff and shut down most of its operations in early January when funding ran out.
As a result, the agency stopped taking consumer complaints and was unable to review or take any enforcement action on those who violated regulations. It also suspended any licensing activity for the broadcast, wireless or wireline industries. This meant the agency temporarily put on hold merger reviews, like that for the pending Sprint-T-Mobile merger.
Another major implication of the shutdown is that the FCC and FDA also suspended the certification of devices, which many in the industry feared would delay the launch of new tech products.
The FCC requires most new devices that emit radio frequency energy to be certified to ensure the energy doesn’t harm humans or interfere with other products or services that use radio spectrum.
The Telecommunications Industry Association, a trade group representing makers of telecom equipment, had warned that the launch of 5G networks could be delayed as a result of the shutdown.
To alleviate this, the FCC reactivated the Equipment Authorization System last Friday. This allowed the majority of devices needing certification to be processed. But because the support staff was still on leave, products that required more “complex” testing and consultation still could not be certified.
The Backlogs
Meanwhile, scores of federal websites will need attention in order to update their security.
Internet security company Netcraft said 130 security certificates used by government websites had expired during the shutdown. The certificates enable important security features that encrypt information that users send and receive from a website.
The lapsed certificates make it difficult for Americans to reach government sites because browsers often block websites with expired credentials. If those users managed to access such sites, they could be vulnerable because hackers could get in between them and the websites, potentially stealing sensitive data that are entered.
