White House to Release Proposed Bill to Boost US Cyber Defenses

The White House today is expected to unveil its proposal to boost the nation’s cyber defenses, detailing plans that would require the commercial sector to better protect systems that operate critical infrastructure such as the electrical grid, financial systems and nuclear power plants, The Associated Press reports.

Sources familiar with the plan…

‘White House’ Christmas Card Laced with Malware

Cyber crooks used a fake White House email Christmas card to steal data from law enforcement, military and government workers, although analysts said no classified information was compromised, The Associated Press reports.

The Christmas tree-decorated e-card prompted recipients to click on a link, which then downloaded the Zeus malware commonly used to steal passwords and other online credentials. In this case, however, the…

Obama’s No. 2 Tech Guru Resigns to Rejoin Private Sector

White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Andrew McLaughlin is leaving his post to launch two new start-up endeavors, according to The Washington Post.

McLaughlin, who previously served as Google’s chief of global public policy, was responsible for numerous White House’s Internet policy initiatives, including the controversial net neutrality rules.

White House Launches Privacy, Internet Policy Subcommittee

In an effort to promote the vast economic opportunity of the Internet and protecting citizens’ online privacy, the National Science and Technology Council has launched a new subcommittee on privacy and Internet policy.

Cameron Kerry, general counsel at the Department of Commerce, and Christopher Schroeder, assistant attorney general at the Department…

White House Lifts Ban on Cookies

White House officials recently announced the proposed abolishment of a decade-long ban on browser cookies after talks with public groups and privacy advocates.

According to the Federal Register notice on the topic, the goal of the review is for the federal government to continue protecting the privacy of those visiting its websites while simultaneously making these websites…

Cyber Plan to Touch e-Health

The White House wants to make online commerce more secure, according to White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt. During a conference hosted by the Health and Human Service Department’s Office of Civil Rights and National Institute for Standards and Technology, Schmidt said the White House is looking to develop a strategy to…

Why Successful Partnerships are Critical for Promoting Cybersecurity

Protecting the digital infrastructure is a shared responsibility of governments and private sector participants.  Although some may argue that government must take charge, achieving success here will require action from all, including partnerships between governments, within the private sector, and between government and the private sector.  While some refer to private-public…

National Journal’s Shane Harris: Issues in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is one of most important issues being discussed in national security. Since…

Competing Proposals for Cyber Coordinator

Last Friday, Sen. Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, outlined the key principles he hopes to include in legislation put forward with Susan Collins on cybersecurity, including a Senate-confirmed cyber coordinator positioned in the White House.

On Monday, Senator Susan Collins spoke before the Homeland Security Policy Institute at GWU and outlined her view that the cyber coordinator position should be…

Administration’s Barrage of Cyber Info

The Obama administration is stepping up its efforts to effectively educate the American public regarding cyber security issues. Janet Napolitano and President Obama have both conducted video presentations on cyber security in the past week.

With October designated by Obama as National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), the administration has sought to aggressively promote cyber education. The key point of NCSAM is that cyber security is a “shared responsibility” in…