Digital Agenda: Homeland Security
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The homeland security boom is funneling billions of dollars to antiterror tech makers, problems with accountability and coordination. A News.com special series.
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A &quot;formidable information and technology management challenge&quot; faces the Homeland Security Department, according a report released today by the Government Accountability Office.
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Democrats who will take over leadership positions in Congress next month doubt that the Department of Homeland Security can achieve nationwide communications interoperability by the end of 2008. One analyst said it might take 20 years.
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Americans are facing a brave new world of post-September 11 technology marvels that could soon find their way into billions of dollars of projected homeland security spending.
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Two congressmen want Homeland Security to post anti-terror grants to states online within a week, so we know when we're funding lawnmower drag races or puppet shows. In 27B Stroke 6.
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A new airport security system relies on human judgment
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InfoWorld - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will host a invite-only conference two months from now that will bring together security experts from law enforcement, Internet service providers, and the technology industry.
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Whatever the state of homeland security, home computer security is sorely lacking. The nation&#39;s Internet users are confused about computer security, 80 percent of their
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS)Â CIO was on the hot seat Wednesday on Capitol Hill after an independent audit found that a database that screens U.S. visitors lacked security controls. The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee called on DHS CIO Scott Charbo to explain why he should keep his job after persistent cybersecurity problems at the agency. "What happened to leadership?" Representative Bennie Thompson, the committee chairman and a Mississippi Democrat, said during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science, and Technology. "What happened to accountability?" Lawmakers also said they were concerned that the agency reported 844 cybersecurity incidents in 2005 and 2006. "Although we still have a ways to go, we've made measurable improvements in the management of information security at the department," Charbo said. "Certainly, we need to increase our vigilance to ensure that such incidents do not happen again." Many of the 844 incidents were minor, and the agency has taken major steps to fix past cybersecurity issues, Charbo said. Many of the reported cybersecurity incidents related to problems like lost laptops that did not result in data breaches, he added. The subcommittee did not have a breakdown of the incidents Wednesday. Asked about reports of bots installed on DHS computers that could send information out to hackers, Charbo said he had "no evidence" that the bots caused a breach. Thompson's comments came as the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report saying DHS continues to have "significant weaknesses in computer security controls that threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of key ... systems." GAO investigators found no security controls on the US-VISIT database, the system that screens people who want to visit the U.S. for potential terrorists and criminals. Lawmakers are concerned whether terrorists could get into the database "and change or alter their names to allow them access to this country, and we wouldn't even know that they're doing it," said Representative Bob Etheridge, a North Carolina Democrat. A contractor provides IT security for US-VISIT, but DHS has its own security controls in place to protect the database, Charbo said. He didn't disclose specific security measures. The GAO doesn't have evidence that the US-VISIT database was breached, said Keith Rhodes, chief technologist and director of the GAO's Center for Technology and Engineering. "I did not see controls in place that would prevent it," Rhodes said. "I did not see defensive perimeters, and I did not see detection systems in place whether it had or had not [been breached]." GAO started a cybersecurity review of DHS a year ago but curtailed its efforts because it kept finding "more and more" problems, Rhodes said. "If we had continued to this day, I would argue we'd still be finding things," he said. "The problems were pervasive. The problems were systemic." Charbo outlined recent measures DHS has taken to improve cybersecurity there. The agency is collapsing multiple legacy WANs into a single WAN, and it is standardizing all e-mail and directory services onto a single platform, he said. The agency had 13 separate e-mail systems when it was formed out of 22 U.S. agencies in 2002, he said. DHS also is combining multiple data centers into a shared center, he said. Thompson asked how DHS officials can preach cybersecurity practices to other agencies and private companies while continuing to have its own problems. Among the incidents DHS reported were employees sending out classified documents on unclassified networks and contractors attaching unauthorized laptops to the DHS network, he said. "How can the Department of Homeland Security be a real advocate of sound cybersecurity practices without following some of its own advice?" he said. "What the department is doing on its own network speaks so loud that the message isn't getting across to anyone else."
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The House will propose moving cybersecurity offices from the Department of Homeland Security to the White House as part of the intelligence reorganization, according to draft legislation obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The bill, expected to be introduced Thursday, would place cybersecurity into the White House budget office...
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Blog: The Department of Homeland Security wants to hear the thoughts of science fiction authors about terrorist attacks and responses.
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The Department of Homeland Security named an acting U.S. cybersecurity chief on Thursday as Congress weighed whether to give the position greater clout to fight hackers, viruses and other online threats.
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SEPTEMBER 15, 2004  - SAN MATEO, Calif. -- The Department of Homeland Security is actively planning several new pilot projects that officials hope will help solve one of the most pressing cybersecurity
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A Congressional hearing slated for Tuesday will delve into the results of an investigation of the Department of Homeland Security's own difficulties in managing vulnerabilities with its systems.
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Listen to live coverage of the House hearing on DHS's cyber-security woes at Wired News Threat Level blog.
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The Homeland Security Department could access data stored in the electronic container seal, but failure rates must be below 5%. By Larry Greenemeier.
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Should federal agents know where you sit on an airplane and what kind of meal you order? Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff says yes