NTIA Attempting to Address Botnet Issues

Today the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a request for public comment (RFC) in the Federal Register (82 FR 27042-27044) requesting comments on actions that can be taken to address automated and distributed threats to the digital ecosystem. This request is part of the activity directed by the President in Executive Order 13800 (EO 13800).

NTIA is looking for comments on attack mitigation and endpoint prevention strategies to address distributed denial of services (DDOS) attacks that use botnets. NTIA is looking for specific comments on the topics below and any additional insights that might be available. The specific topics include:

• What works;

• Gaps in existing approaches;

• Potential methods of addressing the problem;

• Governance and collaboration strategies;

• Role of the Federal government;

• International nature of the problem; and

• User prevention activities.

NTIA is soliciting public comments. Comments may be sent by email (counter_botnet_RFC@ntia.doc.gov). Comments should be submitted by July 13^th, 2017.