Hillicon Valley: New cyber budget request | Apple rolls out anticipated privacy update | And gets a new antitrust challenge

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Happy Monday! A bipartisan group of representatives think a key cybersecurity agency is in need of more funding after responses to SolarWinds and new Microsoft vulnerabilities. Also, Apple rolled out its long awaited privacy feature, which has already received significant criticism from Facebook.

CYBER BUDGET DEFENDERS: A pair of House lawmakers are urging legislators to appropriate more funding for a key federal cybersecurity agency after a year in which cyber threats skyrocketed.

Reps. Jim LangevinJames (Jim) R. LangevinHillicon Valley: New cyber budget request | Apple rolls out anticipated privacy update | And gets a new antitrust challenge Lawmakers call for increasing the budget of key federal cybersecurity agency Hillicon Valley: Tech companies duke it out at Senate hearing | Seven House Republicans vow to reject donations from Big Tech MORE (D-R.I.) and Mike GallagherMichael (Mike) John GallagherHillicon Valley: New cyber budget request | Apple rolls out anticipated privacy update | And gets a new antitrust challenge Lawmakers call for increasing the budget of key federal cybersecurity agency With federal support, the US can recreate Silicon Valley success nationwide MORE (R-Wis.) sent a letter, provided to The Hill on Monday, to the leaders of the House Appropriations Committee asking them to carve out at least $400 million in additional funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) upcoming budget allocation.

The representatives pointed to CISA’s leadership role in responding to both the recent SolarWinds hacking incident, which involved Russian hackers compromising nine federal agencies, and to new vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s Exchange Server that allowed Chinese hackers to potentially breach thousands of organizations.

President BidenJoe BidenOvernight Defense: Supreme Court to hear Gitmo detainee’s request for information on CIA-sponsored torture | General says preparations for Afghanistan withdrawal underway | Army replacing head of criminal investigations division How to get Americans on board with Biden’s bold climate goals OSHA sends draft emergency temporary standard for COVID-19 to OMB review MORE earlier this month proposed a budget of just over $2.1 billion for CISA in fiscal 2022, around $110 million more than the agency was given in fiscal 2021. An additional $650 million was also appropriated to CISA as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law in March.

Read more about the budget concerns here.

AT LONG LAST: Apple released its long awaited anti-tracking tool for iPhones on Monday as part of its new operating system update.

The iOS 14.5 update includes Apple’s app-tracking Transparency Feature, which will require apps to ask users for permission before tracking them across the web.

“Your information is for sale. You have become the product. That’s why iPhone users will now be asked a single simple question — allow apps to track you or not,” a narrator says in a video Apple released Monday along with the launch of the feature.

Apple unveiled the feature over the summer and it was set to be released in September, but it was delayed amid backlash over the tool.

Facebook has fiercely pushed back on the feature. The social media platform, which thrives off the sale of targeted ads, has branded the move as being harmful for small business. It’s further fueled an ongoing feud between Facebook and Apple.