Congress Pushes TikTok Ban While TikTok Proposes to Sever U.S. Ops From ByteDance

The Guardian hit by likely ransomware attack, Okta hacked in latest security incident, Hackers demand $2.25 from Nio, Taxis were hacked at Kennedy, ThyssenKrupp fights cyber incident, much more

Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

Indicative of growing bipartisan anti-China fervor on Capitol Hill, the omnibus must-pass spending bill moving through Congress includes a provision that would ban TikTok from government devices.

Under the bill, the White House Office of Management and Budget would have 60 days “to develop standards and guidelines for executive agencies requiring the removal” of TikTok from federal devices. TikTok is already banned from government devices at the White House, most branches of the military, and several federal agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security and State.

However, to appease policymakers and prevent U.S. user data from being accessed by Chinese government officials or ByteDance employees in Beijing, TikTok has come up with a plan known within the company as Project Texas, sources say. Under the plan, Ti…