The White House is urging federal agencies to request more funding to enhance the nation’s cybersecurity defenses. The memo from the Office of Management and Budget and the National Cyber Director directs agencies to align their budget requests with the Biden administration’s national cyber strategy and implementation plan. The White House is also pushing to adopt fully mature zero-trust architectures and develop minimum cybersecurity requirements for critical infrastructure sectors. Additionally, federal agencies are called upon to address the cyber workforce issue by adopting skills-based best practices and removing 4-year college degrees as minimum requirements.
The U.S. Department of Labor has updated overtime rules, impacting small businesses with salaried employees. Under the new rules, salaried workers earning less than $844 per week and $43,888 annually are eligible for overtime pay. The rates will increase to $1,128 per week and $58,656 per year by January 1, 2025. Small businesses must update their scheduling and payroll practices to comply with these regulations.
A federal appeals court has temporarily halted the reinstatement of net neutrality rules until August 5th, while considering whether more permanent action is justified. This setback comes after the FCC attempts to reclassify ISPs under Title II of the Communications Act. The court’s ruling is influenced by the recent Supreme Court decision to strike down Chevron deference, which may weaken the FCC’s position. The court has requested additional briefs regarding the application of National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet Services to this lawsuit.
Microsoft has settled with the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) over antitrust complaints. The agreement includes changes to address CISPE’s concerns, such as releasing an enhanced version of Azure Stack HCI for European cloud providers. However, the settlement excludes major cloud providers like AWS, Google, and Alibaba. AWS criticized the deal, stating that Microsoft could make its software more readily available to rival cloud providers. Some see the settlement as a way for Microsoft to avoid regulatory scrutiny without addressing the underlying anticompetitive practices.
A recent poll by the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute (AIPI) found that American voters prefer a careful and controlled approach to AI development, prioritizing regulation and security measures over being the first country to develop powerful AI. The poll also revealed that a majority of voters believe the U.S. should use its position in the AI race to enforce safety restrictions and testing requirements on other countries. This comes as federal regulatory efforts remain stalled and state-by-state regulation takes precedence.
Why do we care?
For some small businesses – and potentially some IT services companies – there are new overtime rules. Be aware.
I wanted to highlight the feeling of American voters here – a desire to have regulation. This is worth noting. Voters also support using the U.S.’s position to enforce safety restrictions globally. Lean into your customers sentiment, and help them with their own guidance.