Archive
Senator Casts Outlook on National Interest in Global Conflicts
Vast population growth across the globe is contributing to international conflicts that require US support, advised retired Democratic Senator George Mitchell during a meeting held Wednesday for government technology professionals.
As the former US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace under the Obama Administration, Mitchell warned that much of the population growth is happening in poor regions of the world, where increased competition for land, water, other natural resources and political power are contributing to inequality, injustice and the absence of freedom.
Citing a rise in the population of the Muslim world, Read more…
Congress, DoD and North Korea Move on Cyber
While much of Capitol Hill was busy with the budget this week, two congresswomen came together to put forth a new House cybersecurity bill.
Similar to the bill Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and seven of his Senate colleagues released at the beginning of the month, Reps. Mary Bono Mack (R-Cali.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday unveiled their version of the “Strengthening and Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information and Technology Act of 2012,” or the SECURE IT Act, for short.
Adding to the growing list of cyber bills already introduced in Congress this year, Reps. Bono Mack and Blackburn’s bill intends to Read more…
Cyber Attacks Up for Public and Private Review
Cyber attacks are on the rise, according to a range of sources around the globe, with everyone from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to the UK-based BBC News this week surveying the cyber landscape to determine how best to handle a hack.
In a newly released annual report to Congress, the OMB offered up its assessment of cybersecurity at the federal level – and the results showed mixed reviews.
The report, issued under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), addressed the strengths and weaknesses of federal cybersecurity for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, touting a list of accomplishments and proposing plans to overcome obstacles. Read more…
Alternative Senate Cyber Bill and the RSA Conference Recap
As promised in February, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), alongside seven of his Republican colleagues, rolled out yet another Senate cybersecurity bill late last week.
The bill, which is an alternative to the recently-released bipartisan Cybersecurity Act of 2012, has been dubbed the Strengthening and Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information and Technology Act of 2012, or the SECURE IT Act, and aims to provide greater US cybersecurity through fewer regulations.
Suggesting that some of the private sector’s collaboration with the government should come on a voluntary basis, the bill intends to enhance information sharing and threat reporting relationships by updating the federal government’s security standards, strengthening cyber crime statutes and undertaking greater cybersecurity research and development efforts. Read more…
Senate Cyber Bill Gets Mixed Reviews
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, on Tuesday the Senate released its labor of love, the much-anticipated Cybersecurity Act of 2012, a bipartisan bill aiming to provide the government and private sector with resources to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure from mounting cyber attacks.
As a collaborative effort of members from the Senate Committees on Commerce, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Intelligence, the bill is being cosponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Cali.).
Breaking down the 205-page bill, Read more…
Awaiting the Senate Cyber Bill
It’s a day the tech industry and policy wonks have been impatiently awaiting, as interested parties have continued to speculate when and where the Senate’s comprehensive cybersecurity legislation might be made available.
According to some of the latest reports, the wait will come to an end today, with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) set to roll out the bill.
But along with the wait are mixed views and heightened concerns over what measures will make their way into the proposal.
Last year, just one week shy of today, HSGAC Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), alongside fellow committee members, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.), unveiled the Cybersecurity and Internet Freedom Act of 2011, which intended to provide the Department of Homeland Security with authority over private networks in the event of a “national cyber emergency.” Read more…
House, Senate & DHS Cyber Initiatives
With privacy issues off the tech agenda, appearing too hot for Congress to handle, cybersecurity made its way back to the forefront in both the House and Senate this week.
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies approved H.R. 3674, The Promoting and Enhancing Cybersecurity and Information Sharing Effectiveness Act of 2011 (The PrECISE Act).
Sponsored by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Cali.), the PrECISE Act serves as an amendment to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, aiming for the development and growth of partnerships between the public and private sectors, with more clearly defined roles for each, in an effort to enhance security for Federal networks and the nation’s critical infrastructure. Read more…
SOPA Cyber Attacks and Security Legislation on the Way
As the protests against SOPA and PIPA continue to hog media headlines this week, hacktivist group Anonymous has set out on its own efforts to contest the proposed anti-piracy plans.
According to Politico, following the Department of Justice’s latest move to shut down file-sharing site MegaUpload.com, Anonymous struck back with a distributed denial-of-service cyber attack on the DOJ’s website, as well as others lending support to anti-piracy, including the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Responding to the attack, the MPAA released a statement asserting, “Unfortunately, some groups believe that speech or ideas that they disagree with should be silenced. This could not be more wrong. No matter the point of view, everyone has a right to be heard.”
So it seems, the White House also has the right to be heard when it comes to Internet piracy. Posting on the White House blog on Sunday morning, Administration officials Victoria Espinel, Aneesh Chopra, and Howard Schmidt wrote on “Combating Online Piracy while Protecting an Open and Innovative Internet.” Read more…
The Pentagon, Power Grid and Israel on the Cyber Defense
It’s all about cyber defense this week, as nations and their governments, industry and individual businesses scurry to secure key technological infrastructure.
Starting with President Obama, who late last week, rolled out his new plan to ramp up the U.S. military’s efforts, including those on cybersecurity, despite having to make several spending cuts due to the budget crunch.
Highlighting the need for more investments to help fend off attacks against the nation’s defense systems, the President noted in a press conference, “Our military will be leaner, but the world must know: The United States is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats,” according to Bloomberg.
But, in conjunction with the National Security Agency, the Pentagon is already working on its own defenses to thwart cyber attacks. Read more…
2012 Outlook, Japan’s Cyber Defense & Congress Considers Legislation
The New Year marks new challenges for cybersecurity, according to tech experts and policy forecasters following the topic.
Compiling its own list of cyber risks, security giant McAfee released a new report on the ‘2012 Threat Predictions,’ honing in on an expected rise in attacks on U.S. industrial systems and national infrastructure; an increase in “hacktivism,” or politically-motivated attacks; and more malware directed at smartphones and mobile devices.
“The past 12 months were a transformative year in many ways… We saw great changes in mobile threats, hacktivism, client-side exploitation, social-media exploitation, and targeted attacks,” McAfee said in its report. “Many of these changes and trends will continue to influence the threats landscape for years to come.”
Meanwhile, McAfee’s competitor Panda Security foresees privacy violations and data theft as the “top security issues organizations need to focus on in the coming year,” with foreign cyber-espionage as well as social networking attacks both contributing to the loss of government, corporate and personal data. Read more…
Cybersecurity News 