Cyber czar: Threat protection is a shared responsibility – NextGov
The government, individual users and the private sector all play critical roles in protecting the nation against cyber threats, a senior White House official said Friday.
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.
Extremist websites booming, but hard to police | Reuters Western authorities say the number of extremist websites is skyrocketing but taking action to remove them remains difficult and the head of a specialist British police unit said engagement was needed as well as enforcement.
Serious as a Brain Attack – DOD Energy Blog
Recent government and news reports have highlighted the vulnerability associated with our increasingly interconnected world. Hackers have been around since the dawn of Donkey Kong, but the sophistication of today’s complex information technology systems and the vital organisms they control have escalated their importance and the difficulty of protecting them.
Military space programs at risk, experts say – GovExec
U.S. national security space capabilities, so critical to deployed combat forces and national missile defense, and the supporting industrial base are at a dangerous “tipping point” and need focused leadership and long-term stability in programs and budgets to avoid a crisis, a panel of administration officials and defense space experts warned Tuesday.
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.
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.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday, September 7, in the Second Circuit challenging the federal government’s border search policy is yet another attempt to complicate and restrict our ability to protect the United States. At issue is the government’s position that its authority to protect the border includes the ability to review and examine the contents of personal electronic devices.
Roles and responsibilities key to making cybersecurity work – NextGov
Clarification of cybersecurity roles and responsibilities in the federal government remains the most crucial component of bills circulating in Congress, federal and industry executives said during a panel discussion on Thursday.
Those who read my Security Debrief posts or my Tweets will recognize (maybe with a groan) that one of my “issues” is the lack of action in Awareness and Education with regard to cybersecurity. It is not a sexy, nor a potentially lucrative issue, but I believe with all my heart that it is the foundational piece of any eventual “solution” to our cyber woes. Bottom line of Bucci’s rant is this: we need to make Awareness and Education a real priority and expend the money, time, and personnel to do it correctly.
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