Refining Combat Capabilities When Considering Cyber War

With the increased use of cyber attacks in support of combat operations, military units are beginning to consider ways to continue operations despite consistent and pervasive attacks of networks. At a recent Air Force Association symposium, Maj. General Webber of the 24th Air Force addressed some of these issues.

In considering future warfare operations, the United States military considers cyberspace to be another available domain for operations, similar…

OPM Looks to Define Cyber Positions

In a letter to Chief Human Capital Officers throughout the federal government, John Berry, director at OPM, asked for help in defining cyber security positions. With the recent push towards hiring more cyber security professionals, OPM is seeking to define government wide competency models.

The trouble with cyber security positions, is that a number of different agencies and positions conduct cyber security operations. This makes it difficult for…

Is Congress to Blame for Poor US Cybersecurity?

According to a former assistant secretary for cybersecurity at DHS, Congress shares some of the blame for the current state of cyber security in the United States. Gregory Garcia, assistant secretary for cyber security at DHS from 2006 to 2008, believes that the intensive and often overlapping oversight significantly hindered DHS’s ability to implement effective cyber security policies and solutions.

Garcia cited a few examples, particularly that at…

Dual Use Technologies in Cyberspace?

An article titled ‘Anonymization Technology Takes a High Profile’, published in the November edition of Computer, produced by the IEEE Computer Society, examined the growth in the use of anonymization technology in cyberspace. There is a significant amount of debate surrounding anonymization technology, since it can be used to protect basic rights of digital citizens but can also be abused by criminal elements.

Anonymization technology is designed to…

Chinese Actively Cyber Probe US

In its annual report to Congress, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission highlighted the active role China continues to play in cyber probes on US systems and networks. According to the report, the scope and intensity of the attacks has increased dramatically in the past year.

The Commission claims that the Chinese cyber penetration attempts stem from the desire to obtain technology in support of military development…

Still Waiting on Cyber Czar

It has now been close to 6 months since President Barack Obama announced the creation of the position of cyber coordinator.

Obama took the dramatic step of declaring cybersecurity as a national priority and yet, still no coordinator.

The two front runners (presently) are Howard Schmidt and Frank Kramer. Sources familiar with the discussions and search for the coordinator claim Obama will be announcing the coordinator soon,…

Bonnie and Clyde Stopped Again?

Police in the United Kingdom have arrested a couple in Manchester for using Trojan software to commit bank fraud. The couple were arrested by the Central e-Crime Unit and are suspected of violating the 2006 Fraud Act and 1990 Computer Misuse Act.

The pair of suspected of having used the infamous Zeus Trojan to commit the fraud. This is the first arrest of anyone in Europe for using…

Bill Introduced to Ban P2P Applications on Federal Systems

R. Edolphus Towns, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee, has introduced the Secure Federal File Sharing Act, which will ban peer-to-peer applications on federal systems. The move follows the recent leak of a document on an ethics investigation into members of Congress via a P2P application.

The bill will require the Office of Management and Budget to prohibit the use of any P2P applications on…

GAO Says Federal Systems Still Weak on Cyber Security

According to a recently released report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a number of federal systems are still vulnerable to cyber attacks. A number of major government agencies have still not adequately addressed some of the security loopholes that continue to make the agencies vulnerable to cyber threats.

The GAO report stated that some of the principle failings were failing to authenticate users, monitor security events (such…

Thinking About Cyber Security