FCC Takes Steps to Modernize EAS and Other National Alerting Systems

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted rules modernizing the nation's Emergency Alert System (EAS). Part of the new rules include targeted cybersecurity improvements to protect stations' EAS equipment from hijacking by cybercriminals and U.S. adversaries. While the final adopted order is not yet available, a draft is available here.

The FCC also is moving forward with a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on additional ways to modernize EAS and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), from bolstering reliability to improving geographic accuracy. The FCC said it's "first-principles approach will identify ways to ensure that alerts and alerting systems remain as effective and efficient as possible."

Attorney David Oxenford with TAB Associate member Wilkinson Barker Knauer said the FCC adopted three specific measures to help protect EAS against hijacking by securing station EAS equipment, studio transmitter links, and any remotely managed equipment used for routing, processing, or inserting content into station programming streams.

"Broadcasters must adopt strong password security practices; test and install security patches and security-related software and firmware upgrades promptly after those patches or upgrades are available; and use a network firewall or comparable practice to limit remote access to authorized devices and systems," said Oxenford.

There is a conflict as to how soon the changes must be implemented. Oxenford said the draft Order in one place says it is to be effective 60 days after the publication of the final order in the Federal Register, but he noted in another paragraph it says 90 days.

Stations can look forward to an upcoming deep dive by Oxenford into stations' new EAS security requirements at Broadcast Law Blog once the full text of the final order is released.

Further Notice of Proposed EAS and WEA Rulemaking

In its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC proposes "multiple targeted improvements to make EAS and WEA more accurate, resilient, flexible, and useful." Among the FCC's proposed improvements were the following highlighted by the commission last week:

• Require the authentication of all alerts before they are transmitted.
• Establish a universal alert identification number to improve the detection and blocking of duplicate alerts.
• Ensure that WEAs are consistently sent to members of the public who newly enter an alert's delivery area until an emergency ends.
• Improve geographic accuracy by eliminating outdated WEA geotargeting exceptions that often cause alerts to be received in the wrong locations and expand geotargeting options for EAS.
• Require EAS and WEA to display symbols that match the type of emergency and improve the ability of earthquake alerts to grab the public's attention.
• Allow the implementation of EAS capabilities via software instead of hardware and retire the maximum 90-character versions of WEA messages.

Questions? Contact TAB's Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.