Revised Cybersecurity Emergency Bill

Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W. VA), has written a revised draft of the proposed cybersecurity bill. The bill had initially caused alarm among interested parties due to language allowing the President to shut down the Internet in the case of a cybersecurity emergency. The current draft still gives the President the ability to declare a cyber emergency as well as the right to alert in the event of cyber attacks.

President…

Greg Schaffer Assistant Secretary of DHS’ Office of Cybersecurity on Cyber “In-Fighting,” US-CERT and the Cyber Battleground

Greg Schaffer, assistant secretary of DHS’ Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, recently spoke to InformationWeek about US-CERT and the shifting terrain of cyber warfare.  Schaffer suggests that much of the perceived “in-fighting” and cyber “turf wars,” often portrayed in media as bitter administrative squabbles between government agencies, private industry, and the military, is really just the result of fundamental changes in the cyber landscape over the past ten…

Director of National Cyber Security Center, Phil Reitinger, Outlines His Cyber Priorities:

Phil Reitinger, Director of the National Cyber Security Center outlined his priorities for securing America’s cyber assets in a recent interview with InformationWeek.  Here are the highlights:

 Building Capability: “That’s primarily about people. I have some awesome people here at DHS; we have a great team, but we just don’t have enough of them yet…” Building Partnerships: “We’re defining our partnership models, making sure they’re as efficient as possible, that…

Bipartisan Cyber Legislation To Include Increased Emphasis on Training and Certification, Ditch Presidential Emergency Powers

Forthcoming bipartisan cybersecurity legislation from Senators J. Rockefeller (D-WV) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) will undergo some significant modifications.  The revised legislation will remove a controversial provision that enables the President to effectively turn off the internet in the event of a major cyber attack and feature a greater emphasis on training and certification for federal cyber professionals in order to ensure that the government employs a properly trained workforce, properly educated and trained…

Interview with Cyber Expert, GhostNet Investigator Ron Deibert

University of Toronto Professor and director of the GhostNet project, Ron Deibert, spoke with The New New Internet regarding U.S. cybersecurity and the increased militarization of cyberspace. Deibert believes the future of cyberspace rests in building a global and open Internet. He fears the consequences of weaponization in cyberspace supported by current world leaders.

TheNewNewInternet: Could you briefly describe your background and specifically…

IBM Releases Report on Phishing Attacks

IBM has conducted a study evidencing the number of overall phishing attacks has gone down so far this year to 0.1 % of all spam email as compared to a range of 0.2-0.8% at the same time in 2008, however criminals are learning new methods of attack. IBM also asserted that spam email has not increased this year as it has in the past.

Kris Lamb, IBM Internet Security Systems…

White House Announces New Tool to Aid in Cybersecurity Reporting

The White House has announced an initiative that will make it mandatory for federal agencies to report compliance with cybersecurity regulations. This will be accomplished through a new software tool which will be released this month in a test version. The tool will collect information that is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act.

Required information includes an inventory of systems, assessments of system sensitivity, description of security methods…

IBM: New Microprocessors Built by…DNA?

IBM researchers, working with Paul W. K . Rothemund of Cal Tech are working on a new way of building chips: arranging DNA origami structures on microprocessors that are compatible with semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Their research looks to preserve Moore’s Law, which says that every two years the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles. For four decades, Moore’s Law (named for Intel’s…

Cyber ‘Czar’ Position of Concern to Langevin

Jim Langevin (D) Congressman from Rhode Island has expressed concern over the delay in selecting a cybersecurity “czar.” Speculation on who will be appointed to the position has resumed since Melissa Hathaway, acting senior director of Cybersecurity under the White House National Security Council, has announced her resignation. She was being considered for the permanent role.

Langevin is chair of the House Cybersecurity Caucus and co-chair of the CSIS…

Webinar on Future of Broadband in Public Safety and Security

The FCC is scheduled to host a webinar, on Tuesday, in order to educate and examine how broadband technology can be utilized by public safety entities and for homeland security purposes.

In the first of two panels members of the public safety community, government agencies, industry, and academia will come together to discuss interoperability, redundancy, cyber security, 911, and pandemic response. Of particular interest will be uses of broadband applications…