SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna will testify Friday about the company’s recent breach, the House Oversight and Homeland Security committees announced Monday (see 2102180043). Microsoft President Brad Smith, FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia and ex-SolarWinds CEO Kevin Thompson will also testify. The vulnerability that enabled the breach exists in “every company, so what happened to us can happen to any software developer in the world,” Ramakrishna told a Center for Strategic and International Studies event Monday. The attacker was able to inject malware into Orion software code in a narrow way that went undetectable, so SolarWinds delivered and signed it, he said: “The ability for our bill systems to identify that did not exist.” Ramakrishna “came to know” about the breach around Dec. 13-14, when he wasn’t officially an employee, he said. He noted the attackers used older software releases as test beds. He said SolarWinds is working with third parties to understand the breadth, depth of the sophistication and patience of the attackers. SolarWinds is working with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology on potential generalized best practices, he said. He suggested the U.S. government should have one agency for companies to inform and brief about incidents, because having multiple points of contact results in wasted time and effort.

Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier, both of California, led a letter Monday with 31 other House Democratic women urging President Joe Biden to name acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to the permanent spot. Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democratic lawmakers have been pressing Biden to move quickly to name a permanent FCC chair and fill a vacant seat to secure a 3-2 commission majority (see 2102050064). Rosenworcel “has spent years raising the important voices and unique needs of women that have been ignored for far too long in technology and telecommunications policy” and “is perfectly qualified” to be the first permanent chairwoman, Eshoo and the other lawmakers wrote White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. Some Congressional Black Caucus members back Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus wants a Latino commissioner (see 2102110043).

The Bureau of Industry and Security is buried within an organization “hostile to the aggressive use of export controls,” and should be moved from the Commerce Department to the State Department, which puts national security first, said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Thursday during a Reagan Presidential Foundation program. Cotton wants the Office of Foreign Assets Control (see 2102190012) expanded and sanctions applied to those who steal intellectual property from U.S. firms and to those companies that profit from that theft. “Huawei has been effectively cut off from most high-end U.S. chips; the United States should ensure ZTE is cut off, as well. When the next Huawei or ZTE arises, the government should deal with it in the same manner,” he wrote. He said the U.S. should aim to bankrupt Huawei and ZTE through further sanctions and cut them off from the U.S. financial system. Cotton, who co-sponsored the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act (see 2102180023), said work is underway to fund the act. Commerce, Huawei, ZTE and the Chinese Embassy didn't comment Friday.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a frequent critic of FCC broadband mapping, called acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s launch of a Broadband Data Task Force (see 2102170052 and personals section, this issue) a “first step in fixing the maps … so states like West Virginia can have a fair shot at the federal funding to expand broadband access. I will continue to work closely with the FCC and the newly formed task force until the maps are fixed.”

SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday during a hearing on the Russian government-sponsored hack of his company's Orion software (see 2102100059), Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., announced Thursday. Microsoft President Brad Smith, FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia and CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz will also testify during a hybrid hearing in 106 Dirksen. The SolarWinds breach prompted Smith to use his CES 2021 keynote last month to urge tech industry and government action to write new cybersecurity “rules of the road" (see 2101130028).

The House Antitrust Subcommittee scheduled a virtual hearing on online competition and barriers to entry Thursday at 10 a.m. EST, Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I., announced. It will be the first in a series of hearings.

The CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter will testify before House Commerce Committee members March 25, Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., announced Thursday. The remote hearing with Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey will focus on misinformation and disinformation. The House Consumer Protection and Communications subcommittees will host the joint hearing.

Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., will chair the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, announced Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and ranking member Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Wednesday. Former committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., will replace Portman as the top Republican on the subcommittee.

The House Communications Subcommittee set a Feb. 24 hearing on “traditional” news media’s role in disseminating disinformation, a departure from Capitol Hill’s recent focus on social media’s failure to halt false information online (see 2010160054). The virtual hearing begins at 12:30 p.m. EST. “The prolonged severity of the COVID-19 pandemic” and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol “have driven home a frightening reality: the spread of disinformation and extremism by traditional news media presents a tangible and destabilizing threat,” said Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa. “Some broadcasters’ and cable networks’ increasing reliance on conspiracy theories and misleading or patently false information raises questions about their devotion to journalistic integrity. We look forward to hearing from media experts about what is being done and what more can be done to address this growing problem.” The committee didn't reference specific media outlets Wednesday. Lobbyists told us Fox News, Newsmax, One America News Network and Sinclair are likely to draw attention. Those companies didn't comment.

Congress should explore whether telecom and media vertical integration is “restricting innovation or output,” said Senate Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah. Announcing the Republican antitrust agenda for the 117th Congress, Lee suggested Tuesday that Congress explore issues including the “relationship between antitrust law and patent law within the standard-setting context” and whether app stores' owners “are restricting competition from developers.” Actions of "Big Tech continue to divide the nation, undermine fundamental liberties, and distort the market,” he said. Given the Senate’s 50-50 split, efforts to update antitrust laws need bipartisan support, he said: “Any legislative attempt to replace or undermine the consumer welfare standard is a non-starter.” Lee said he will reintroduce the One Agency Act, with a new portion to “address the inequities of FCC merger review.” The bill would assign all antitrust enforcement to DOJ.