Congress allotted the Navy $191 million to buy 12 long-range variants of the helicopter-drone. Prime contractor Northrop Grumman and the Navy are working to build new C-model Fire Scouts.

Mike Fuqua, Northrop’s head of business development for tactical unmanned systems, said the C models will fly at greater distances and carry more advanced sensor payloads, according to AOL Defense.

Fuqua said company officials are looking to develop and integrate tactical signals intelligence payload and cargo carrying capability into the C models. He noted Northrop Grumman engineers could consider arming the new Fire Scout with an advanced precision system from BAE Systems.

Capellas’ speech explored key barriers to cloud adoption and incorporated findings of the TechAmerica Commission on Leadership Opportunity in U.S. Deployment of the Cloud. The CLOUD(2) commission published a cloud buyer’s guide and recommends guidelines for necessary legislative actions to drive U.S. cloud innovation, jobs growth and competitiveness in the world market.

“Information Technology  has been synonymous with economic prosperity since the middle of the last century,” Capellas said, “and the U.S. has been a major beneficiary of previous technology waves. We have now entered a period of rapid change where the shift to cloud computing is accelerating. But misconceptions and concerns with cloud computing may impact success for companies and agencies, and ultimately threaten U.S. leadership in IT. Tomorrow’s winners at the company, regional, national and global level must recognize, adopt and embrace technologies, processes and policies that make them more competitive.”

Americans already use cloud computing even if unaware and with the cloud computing revenue expected to grow by tens of billion within the next few years, Capellas warns that more is at stake than cloud computing revenue.  ”Cloud computing has the potential to both reshape the IT landscape and shift wealth between nations. Trillions of dollars of global economic wealth will be based upon competitiveness in today’s 24×7 world, and choosing cloud computing as a foundational element to IT can make companies, agencies and organizations more efficient, productive and agile. Continued U.S. leadership in IT is dependent upon U.S. leadership in cloud computing.”

“So please, to all the American people, keep it up,” the president said. “If you want to see a bipartisan compromise — a bill that can pass both houses of Congress and that I can sign — let your members of Congress know.” 

The president suggested Twitter as a means of interaction between the citizens and their lawmakers to urge them to make a deal. And tweet they did — so much that the White House credits the social networking site for Congress’ recently announced debt ceiling agreement. 

According to a Twitter conversation last night between White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer and New York Times reporter Brain Stelter, the White House believes the public’s tweets helped push Congress toward a debt ceiling agreement. 

“Comm. Director Dan Pfeiffer affirms that the WH believes emails/tweets helped pressure Congress to act,” read Stelter’s tweet. 

Following the president’s national address, Americans took to the phone lines and the Internet to contact their lawmakers. Telephone circuits in the Capitol were overwhelmed by a high volume of incoming calls while Twitter exploded with messages aimed at representatives. 

The president also made use of the site. Tweeting his 9.4 million followers, Obama asked them to use the hashtag, #compromise.

“The time for putting party first is over. If you want to see a bipartisan #compromise, let Congress know. Call. Email. Tweet.-BO,” he said.

Image: Juan Fuertes

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security warned Congress yesterday that potential variants of the Stuxnet worm could threaten important U.S. infrastructures.

Roberta Stempfley and Sean P. McGurk from the DHS’ Office of Cyber Security and Communications appeared before House members and stressed the importance of strengthened cybersecurity efforts across the federal government. They said that a repurposed Stuxnet computer worm could infiltrate critical U.S. systems and cause a major threat to national security.

The two officials believe that because copies of the Stuxnet code have been publicly available, the increasing amount of available information enables attackers to develop variants that could target a larger number of systems.

“Our analysis quickly uncovered that sophisticated malware of this type potentially has the ability to gain access to, steal detailed proprietary information from, and manipulate the systems that operate mission-critical processes within the nation’s infrastructure,” Stempfley and McGurk said in their statement. “In other words, this code can automatically enter a system, steal the formula for the product being manufactured, alter the ingredients being mixed in the product, and indicate to the operator and the operator’s anti-virus software that everything is functioning normally.”

The Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team and DHS “remain vigilant and continue analysis and mitigation efforts of any derivative malware,” they added.

Stuxnet was first found on a computer in Iran in June 2010. The malware targets Siemens industrial software and equipment running on Microsoft Windows. It was believed to be targeting an Iranian uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and would become active once it had identified its target. Since then, ICS-CERT has been actively analyzing and reporting on Stuxnet.

Stempfley and McGurk urged lawmakers to continue collaborative cybersecurity operations between federal agencies and the private sector, as well as work to raise awareness of cybersecurity issues within the American public.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

Sens. Carl Levin and John McCain of the Senate Armed Services Committee urged the Defense Department to clarify the military’s cyber role in a letter sent yesterday to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

The letter states the DoD has failed to fully define DoD’s plan-of-action should a threat to national security arise, leaving the nation’s cyberspace vulnerable.

“The continued failure to address and define the policies and legal authorities necessary for the Pentagon to operate in the cyberspace domain remains a significant gap in our national security that must be addressed,” they wrote.

The letter was sent following the recent release of DoD’s “Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace,” which McCain believes left some fundamental questions unanswered, such as the relationship between military operations in cyberspace and kinetic operations, the development of a declaratory deterrence posture for cyberspace and the definition of what would constitute an act of war in cyberspace, among others.

The letter to Panetta is part of McCain’s continued efforts to urge Congress to establish a bipartisan panel to draft legislation to combat security threats and breaches aimed at U.S. companies and defense networks.

McCain last week sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling for the creation of a Select Committee on Cyber Security and Electronic Intelligence Leaks in the Senate. According to McCain, the temporary panel would allow for the drafting of comprehensive cybersecurity legislation quickly without needing to work through numerous and in some cases competing committees of jurisdiction.

“We need to educate Americans so they have a clear understanding of how the threat has evolved the severity of it and the need to secure our networks,” McCaul said in a statement.

The website is currently relatively sparse at the time of writing, containing basic security tips and facts and figures related to cybersecurity, including the number of victims of cyber crime and the number of attacks the Department of Defense experiences. The site also lists the members of the caucus, which includes Republicans and Democrats.

The bill reauthorizes the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) and the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s (NIST) unclassified network security and computer programs. The bill is designed to enhance cooperation on federal and private cybersecurity research and development projects.

“This is an important first step,” said Committee Member Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX). “Every critical infrastructure is tied to cyber networks whether it be our utilities, power grids, financial institutions, air traffic controllers. Virtually every sector is vulnerable. I hope as with 9/11 we don’t turn a blind eye and have a denial of service attack before we address this issue.”

Additionally, the bill prioritizes cyber R&D, coordinates the United States’ position and representation in the international arena and looks to strengthen the cyber workforce.

“We are all aware that the importance of cybersecurity has grown dramatically in recent years, as most of the critical systems upon which we depend–from telecommunications to electricity to banking and commerce– rely on secure and reliable computing,” said Ralph Hall (R-TX), Science and Technology Committee Ranking Member. “I also want to note my appreciation for what this bill doesn’t do. It avoids calling for any activities that could amount to being regulatory in nature, which could actually be counterproductive to security.”

Back in November 2009, the House Science and Technology Committee reported the bill out of committee unanimously.

There is broad consensus on what needs to be included in a cyber bill, according to Eric Hopkins, professional staff member for the Federal Financial Management Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. However, many of the details have yet to be worked out.

Several similarities exist between current legislation proposed by Sens. Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins and Tom Carper and a bill put forward by Sens. Olympia Snowe and John Rockefeller. These include reforming FISMA, efforts to increase the cyber workforce, delineate the role the government can and should play in defending private networks and establishing clearly defined roles throughout the government for cybersecurity.

While Congress has certainly ramped up its efforts over cybersecurity recently, it is unclear if comprehensive legislation will be passed this year.

“The intent is there to get something done, but obviously, Congress has a lot on its plate right now,” Hopkins said. “What I do know is that, by working together, we can put something together that will be solid and hopefully won’t require too much debate on the floor. It’s not a partisan issue.”

During a hearing to discuss the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, recently proposed by Sens. Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins and Tom Carper, Townsend said that the majority of cyber talent lies in the private sector, making partnerships between the government and private sector absolutely critical to securing the nation’s infrastructure.

“Collective national cybersecurity can only be effectively addressed through a partnership approach between government and private industry,” she said. “Industry is where most of the expertise in the fields of IT and cybersecurity reside … partnership is the only way forward.”

The bill,  if passed, would create a new Center to coordinate the nation’s cyber effort. Townsend, on behalf of INSA, praised the creation of such a center and its efforts to include the private sector through an advisory council.

“This bill not only establishes a clearly responsible Center for the problem, but requires that a private sector advisory council be organized to advise the Center on their actions’ effects on industry,” she said.

Additionally, Townsend discussed the need to preserve the innovative atmosphere in cyber. The government should be careful when developing standards to keep innovation and creativity from being stifled.

“Prescriptive or directive security standards, or one-size fits all approaches will limit innovation and erode industry support and participation if industry managers feel security mandates have made their business less competitive,” Townsend said. “We applaud the measured approach of this bill in allowing industry members to propose their own security solutions for approval by the regulatory body.”

“This not only creates a true give-and-take security partnership, but also allows for innovation and growth,” she added.

Another key component of the legislation is establishing plans for information sharing. In a cyber environment, particularly in parternship with the government, information is often over-classified or poorly disseminated.

“Critical to a strong public-private partnership is the creation of a shared awareness of the network environment,” Townsend said. “Information sharing is absolutely crucial.”

The bill, if passed, would require plans to be put in place for the sharing of information between public and private sector actors. Townsend also called for the development of best practices and standards in cooperation between the private and public sectors.

“Government must develop security standards and systems that deal with known threats and have the capacity to adapt to the rapidly changing cyber environment, and it must do so in concert with industry partners,” she said. [The new center] should embrace a true partnership approach, soliciting comments from industry on draft proposals, consulting closely with owners and operators and being open to revision of their rules in light of industry input.”

One method of improving security proposed by INSA is private sector self-regulation.

“Self-regulation is not an unprecedented activity in the U.S. private sector,” Townsend said. “There are multiple examples of where the private sector has self-organized to attain a goal … Self-regulation in cyberspace can be achieved and self-imposed based on a strong value proposition and value-based incentives.”

“Cybersecurity is an issue that members of Congress are focusing on,” Deborah Parkinson, senior policy analyst on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said. “There is a large majority on the Hill who want to take action.”

Parkinson said that change might come from amendments, such as those that have been added to the 2011Defense Department Authorization Bill. Several leaked provisions also would give the president emergency controls on private critical networks in the event of an “imminent cyber attack.”

“We are not taking over the world; we are not taking over anybody’s networks,” Parkinson said. Instead the powers would only apply in a very specific, and serious, set of circumstances.

“The president needs to have some very limited authorization,”  she said. “The broad vision of a president taking over networks is not a part of what we are doing.”