| BIG DAY FOR CYBER NOMINEES: The Senate on Monday unanimously approved the nomination of Jen Easterly to serve as director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Easterly’s nomination was approved by the Senate weeks after Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) blocked a vote on Easterly until either President Biden or Vice President Harris visited the U.S.-Mexico border. Harris visited the southern border late last month, and Scott has since lifted his hold. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which considered and approved Easterly’s nomination, expressed frustration Monday that she was not confirmed earlier. “Before the Senate adjourned for the July 4th holiday, I stood right here and urged my colleagues to confirm her for this vital position,” Peters said on the Senate floor on Monday. “I warned that without confirming Ms. Easterly, we risked leaving ourselves vulnerable to cyberattacks, and in the two weeks since I last called on my colleagues to approve this critical nomination, nation state actors and criminal organizations have continued their relentless targeting of the United States.” Read more about Easterly’s confirmation here. Meanwhile, Chris Inglis, approved by the Senate last month to serve as the nation’s first White House national cyber director, was formally sworn into the position on Monday. Read more about Inglis’s position here. EU COMPLAINTS: European consumer groups filed a complaint against WhatsApp over a controversial privacy policy update on Monday, alleging the platform’s “intrusive” notifications pushing the update breached European Union commercial practices. The European Consumer Organization (BEUC), an umbrella consumers group based in Brussels, along with eight of its members in various countries, filed the complaint against the platform, owned by Facebook, arguing it failed to explain in “plain and intelligible language the nature of the changes.” “WhatsApp has been bombarding users for months with aggressive and persistent pop-up messages to force them to accept its new terms of use and privacy policy. They’ve been telling users that their access to their app will be cut off if they do not accept the new terms. Yet consumers don’t know what they’re actually accepting,” BEUC Director General Monique Goyens said in a statement. Read more here. ICYMI: A BRIEF TRIP TO SPACE: Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson successfully landed on Earth just after 12 p.m. ET Sunday, becoming the first billionaire to launch into space. Branson made the trip, which lasted about 90 minutes, in a spaceplane created by his company that launched on Sunday morning after a 90-minute delay. After he exited the spacecraft, he hugged loved ones and celebrated with fans. "What a day, what a day, what a day, what a day," Branson said in remarks following the landing. The launch from Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport America in New Mexico was slightly delayed on Sunday morning due to weather. It came just days before Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is set to launch into space on his own spacecraft. Read more here.
What we’re watching this week: -A House Judiciary Committee subcommittee will examine law enforcement use of facial recognition technology during a hearing on Tuesday. -The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will consider multiple pieces of cyber-related legislation during a hearing Wednesday, including a bill to protect K-12 institutions against hackers. -The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on supply chain resiliency featuring testimony from technology experts. -The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on reforming the Department of Homeland Security to meet evolving threats, which will likely include discussions of recent cybersecurity incidents. An op-ed to chew on: The US needs a 'Digital Marshall Plan' to counter China's Digital Silk Road Lighter click: Nightly routine | 
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