Government panel says cybersecurity mandates not needed
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Despite real threats and little sense of urgency by many company executives, now is not the time for the U.S. government to mandate cybersecurity standards to private industry, a panel of of government officials said.
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The failure to appoint an assistant secretary for cybersecurity and incomplete planning are raising questions about how well prepared the Department of Homeland Security is for a cyberattack directed against the nation's critical infrastructure.
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U.S. House officials, in rebuffing efforts by Florida investigators to access former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley's congressional computers, said they found no sexually explicit photos
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After 14-month delay The US government has appointed a cybersecurity chief after a 14-month gap that left observers questioning the Government's commitment to the post.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Fixing cybersecurity problems in the U.S. is a top priority at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said the agency's leader, but lawmakers didn't focus on the issue during a hearing in Congress Wednesday. Cybersecurity is a "very big issue" that DHS remains concerned about, said DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, testifying before the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee. Chertoff didn't go into details because much of the department's cybersecurity efforts are classified, he said. "I can assure you that we are working with other elements of the federal government and giving highest priority an enhanced strategy with respect to cybersecurity," he said. Cybersecurity threats have "enormous potential to do damage to the United States in years to come," Chertoff added. Chertoff testified before the committee in a hearing titled, "Holding the Department of Homeland Security Accountable for Security Gaps." But while cybersecurity problems continue inside and outside of the U.S. government, lawmakers focused on other issues during the hearing, including the hiring of border agents, training of bomb-sniffer dogs, and the scanning of airline cargo. Just this week, the U.S. Department of Defense acknowledged a successful attack on an unclassified e-mail system earlier this year. While not focusing on cybersecurity, committee chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said DHS needs to improve in several areas. Thompson has criticized the department's cybersecurity efforts in the past, but cybersecurity issues were not on Thompson's list of top priorities for Chertoff in the remaining 16 months of U.S. President George Bush's administration. Instead, Thompson called on Chertoff to fill vacancies at DHS, to finish regulations for container security at ports, and to implement a biometric air passenger screening program. "We owe the American people security," Thompson said. "We owe them accountability. And most importantly, we owe them freedom from fear." Other than the short Chertoff statement on cybersecurity, the issue did not come up again in more than 90 minutes of questions from lawmakers. Representative Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, used part of his question time to complain to Chertoff that many bomb-sniffing dogs used by DHS came from overseas. Rogers urged Chertoff to find ways to breed bomb-sniffing and cadaver dogs in the U.S. "I'm concerned that we are increasingly relying on foreign imported dogs," he said.
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A White House privacy board is giving its stamp of approval to two of the Bush administration's controversial surveillance programs &#151; electronic eavesdropping and financial tracking &#151; and says they do not violate citizens' civil liberties.
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Weaknesses in the Energy Departmentâs cybersecurity allowed hackers to successfully penetrate its systems 199 times last year in intrusions that affected 3,531 systems, the departmentâs inspector general said.
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(InfoWorld) - SAN FRANCISCO -- U.S. companies and the federal government need to step up and fix the problems in their computer networks, the nation's new cybersecurity czar told attendees during his first-ever address atÂ RSA ConferenceÂ here on Thursday. Within the next 10 years, the majority of the world's communication needs will probably be handled by the Internet, said Gregory Garcia, the assistant secretary for cybersecurity and telecommunications at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "This proliferation of applications and devices within the converged network is going to create a breeding ground for security problems," he said. "Our networks and our systems are vulnerable and they are exposed." Garcia outlined two priorities for the year ahead. First, his office is working with federal agencies to adopt common security policies and practices. Second, he plans to work with the private sector to push forward a process called the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. This effort is intended to evaluate computer security risks on an industry-by-industry basis and outline the steps that need to be taken to address them. The broad strokes of this plan were outlined last June, and the DHS is now working with industry to flesh out sector-specific plans, Garcia said. He made it clear that the DHS expects U.S. companies to participate. "There are a lot of plans in Washington. This one is going to stick," he said. "The private sector owns and operates 90 percent of the critical infrastructure, and it's up to you all, not just the DHS, to secure this infrastructure." Companies looking for best practices already have a number of standards they can consider, Garcia said, pointing to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17799 specification and the guidelines prescribed by Technet, an IT industry association. Computer security has not been a top priority at the DHS, which has paid far more attention to physical security threats to the nation since its inception in 2003. And though DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff tried to put a sharper focus on computer security by creating Garcia's high-level post in 2005, the position remained vacant for more than a year. Garcia was introduced Thursday by Art Coviello, president of EMC's RSA group, who said afterward that he was encouraged by the assistant secretary's speech. "It's a combination of carrot and stick," he said in an interview. "Chiding industry to actually comply with these standards that are out there, and a veiled threat of regulation to get things done." Coviello said that cybersecurity has "languished a bit" within DHS ever since U.S. President George W. Bush signed off on his administration's comprehensive cybersecurity plan in 2003. "The Department and Secretary [Tom] Ridge and Secretary Chertoff obviously focused on the right things -- physical threats -- but now it's time to get after the critical infrastructure from the cyber side," Coviello said in the interview. "I don't think industry is looking for a lot of regulation from government," he added. "What they are looking for is leadership."
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Federal regulators plunged into an energy and national security controversy yesterday by ruling that the nation's 103 nuclear power plants do not need to protect themselves from potential attacks by terrorists using airplanes.
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OTTAWA (CP) - Sensitive government information is vulnerable to computer hackers, and billions of taxpayer dollars are squirreled away in federal foundations without public scrutiny, says the auditor general.
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Imposing government security standards on software companies is not the answer to improving the security of the country&#39;s computer networks, a US Department of Homeland Security official said Thursday.
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The government issued an alert Thursday to U.S. stock market and banking Web sites about a possible Internet attack from a radical Muslim group, but said the threat was unconfirmed and seemed to pose no immediate danger.
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Officials from cybersecurity company tells the U.S. Congress that a data breach notification bill with reasonable security practice requirements would protect Americans.
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Key members of Congress and the 9/11 commission make it clear that a federal board to protect civil liberties in the age of terrorism is not optional. But they're struggling to figure out how to establish it. By Ryan Singel.
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The Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA) has recommended that the Bush administration get a handle on cybersecurity issues, and has issued a 12 point recommendation to the White House to aid in the education process.
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WASHINGTON - Representatives of wireless telephone carriers planning a telephone directory service told a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday that legislation to protect their customers' privacy isn't needed, because their plan already does.
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By JUAN A. LOZANO    HOUSTON  -- Businesses and government agencies must re-examine the growing threat of cyberterrorism to automated computer systems running power grids, dams and other industrial facilities, security experts said Tuesday...