Steven Bucci

Will the Elections Affect Cyber Efforts?

November 3, 2010

Here are the issues. None of the big legislative players lost on November 2. In that regard, all the legislative efforts should continue to move through the system. But will the new Congress be open to bipartisanship? Will these key areas of cooperation improve or fall by the wayside? On the executive side, theoretically, nothing has changed. That, however, is only a theory. Reality will steamroller that theory in a heartbeat. Cyber efforts could be deemed second-tier stuff and lose what momentum they have finally started to gain. I certainly hope not.

Flash! Experts Disagree at Homeland Security and Defense Business Council Cyber Event

Steven Bucci |

October 20, 2010

Well, there is a headline NO ONE ever expected to see…yeah, right. At the Homeland Security & Defense Business Council’s Cyber Security Awareness Month Conference, it actually happened – really. Roger Cressey of Good Harbor Consulting was the lead keynote speaker. After a good introduction by Marc Pearl, the head of the council, Cressey gave a super address that covered the water front of the key issues facing our nation in cyber. Yours truly had the honor of being the closing keynote speaker. I took exception with my friend Roger on a couple of areas. For one, he draws far too strong a line between cyber crime and cyber espionage, and does not consider cyber crime a national security issue but a law enforcement one. I could not disagree more.

Fifth Generation Warfare – It Is Not About Winning

Steven Bucci |

October 14, 2010

A week or so ago, I did a post on 5th Generation Warfare (5GW), and it apparently stirred up some interest among the readers of Security Debrief. Given that interest, I thought I would look a little deeper into this subject. My title will probably bother some. Isn’t it always about “winning?” Actually, life would be much simpler if it were. Vince Lombardi’s famous quote (“Winning isn’t everything, it is the ONLY thing.”) works for football but not for 5GW. As much as Americans love a winner, in 5GW it will not be quite so clear cut.

Homeland Security and Defense Business Council Event for Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Steven Bucci |

October 13, 2010

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. It is the kick off of a series of major town hall-style meetings around America, headed by the Department of Homeland Security. One can only hope it will jump start the effort to get the nation’s collective attention in a meaningful way. On Wednesday, October 13, the Homeland Security and Defense Business Council will host an afternoon executive event to put focus on this key issue, bringing together a group of senior officials from business and government to discuss ways to improve our cybersecurity posture.

Fifth Generation Warfare – A Growing Concept

Steven Bucci |

September 29, 2010

A new and very interesting concept is growing among a community of dedicated national security professionals. Diplomats, soldiers, law enforcement officers, intelligence operatives, cyber warriors and development specialists are being aided by sociologists, psychologists, and policy academicians. Their unifying concept is that 21st century warfare in the post-9/11 world requires a different viewpoint than what we have applied in the past. This new integrated concept is called Fifth Generation Warfare.

SCADA Worm Found – Stuxnet Shows Control Systems are Hacked

Steven Bucci |

September 27, 2010

I have spoken recently quite a few times about the possibility of cyber attacks on SCADA systems. Well, now we have had a very high profile one. The Stuxnet worm has infected a large number of PCs involved in industrial control systems. What I do know is that this shows that the so-called experts who have discounted control system attacks as low in likelihood (because they are not fully hooked to the net and because the systems are idiosyncratic) are wrong. It takes a better weapon, and more care to emplace it, but it can be done, and indeed has been.

Judge Shannen Rossmiller: A True Cyber Warrior

Steven Bucci |

September 24, 2010

A few weeks ago, Security Debrief hosted a superb session with one of the most intriguing people I have ever met. A former judge, Ms. Shannen Rossmiller characterizes herself as a “cyber operative.” Her function can best be described as a nontraditional intel gatherer for cyber counter intelligence. She works over the Net on jihadi radicalization and recruitment issues, and she is a new cyber warrior on a new battlefield.

Jeffrey Carr at BENS Cyber Roundtable, U.S. Already in a Cyber War

Steven Bucci |

September 22, 2010

Business Executives for National Security (BENS) hosted the first of a new series of round tables today that will cover Cyber Security and Cyber War. This first meeting was a discussion with Jeffery Carr, the author of “Inside Cyber Warfare,” and the discussion moved between the threats, the government responses to them and why the government is not doing too well. The bottom line was this: Carr believes we are presently involved in a cyber war.

SANS Institute and GovExec Cyber War Panel Discussion: A Summary

Steven Bucci |

September 16, 2010

At the National Press Club, the SANS Institute and GovExec Magazine held a superb two-hour session that broached the controversial, ill-defined and critical issues around Cyber War. It was an excellent discussion with true experts. It would have been worth it to go beyond the time limits, as we ran out of time well before we ran out of questions. What follows is not a transcript but my paraphrased review of what was covered.

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