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Seven months after President Obama vowed to "personally select" an adviser to orchestrate the government's strategy for protecting computer systems, the White House on Tuesday tapped a former Bush administration official for the job. Howard A. Schmidt, who was a cyber-adviser in President George W. Bush's White House, will be Obama's new cybersecurity coordinator, an administration official said Monday night. A letter announcing the appointment was posted on the White House Web site early Tuesday. The letter said Schmidt will "have regular access to the President and serve as a key member of his National Security Staff. He will also...

WASHINGTON – The White House has tapped a corporate cyber security expert and former Bush administration official to lead the effort to shore up the country's computer networks and better coordinate with companies that operate 80 percent of those critical systems. Howard A. Schmidt, a former eBay and Microsoft executive, will become the government's cyber security coordinator, weathering a rocky selection process that dragged on for months, as others turned the job down. In a letter posted on the White House web site Tuesday, John Brennan, assistant to President Barack Obama for homeland security and counterterrorism, said Schmidt will have...

Iraqi insurgents intercepted Predator drone communications using $26 tool, according to report Insurgents in Iraq were able to intercept video images transmitted by the US army’s unmanned spy planes using software cheaply available on the Internet, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The insurgents were not able to control the Predator drones, but military personnel told the newspaper that tactical advantages may have been compromised by the breach. It came to light when US soldiers captured a laptop belonging to insurgents, and found that it contained video images from a Predator drone. The WSJ report cites a...

All telecoms companies and internet service providers will be required by law to keep a record of every customer's personal communications, showing who they are contacting, when, where and which websites they are visiting. Despite widespread opposition over Britain's growing surveillance society, 653 public bodies will be given access to the confidential information, including police, local councils, the Financial Services Authority, the Ambulance Service, fire authorities and even prison governors. They will not require the permission of a judge or a magistrate to access the information, but simply the authorisation of a senior police officer or the equivalent of a...

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top-ranking Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, today argued against establishing a new cybersecurity coordinator position at the White House. Rather than have a new White House “cyber czar” oversee cybersecurity efforts, the Homeland Security Department should be given greater resources and authority to secure civilian networks, Collins said during a speech in Washington. She called for establishing a cybersecurity center at DHS with a “strong and empowered leader” who would also serve as principal cybersecurity adviser to the president. Under the government's overall computer security strategy, DHS is responsible for protecting...

Representatives from the electrical industry sharply criticized on Tuesday a proposal in the House to extend federal regulation to include local power plants in major cities to protect them and the national power grid from cyberattacks. Under the 1935 Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission enforces security standards for most of the nation's power plants, including facilities and control networks -- known as bulk power systems -- that connect power systems. But the commission does not have regulatory jurisdiction over electrical systems outside the continental United States and to local distribution facilities, which include some in large cities...

The National Security Agency, whose job it is to protect national security systems, will soon break ground on a data center in Utah that's budgeted to cost $1.5 billion. The NSA is building the facility to provide intelligence and warnings related to cybersecurity threats, cybersecurity support to defense and civilian agency networks, and technical assistance to the Department of Homeland Security, according to a transcript of remarks by Glenn Gaffney, deputy director of national intelligence for collection, who is responsible for oversight of cyber intelligence activities in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. "Our country must continue to...

North Korea launched the cyber attack against South Korea and the United States The South Korean government is now blaming North Korea of launching organized cyber attacks against websites belonging to South Korea and the U.S. earlier in the year.Due to malicious software, numerous U.S. and S.K. Web sites were slowed or ground to a complete stop during the attack, as cyber experts scrambled to pinpoint the source of the problem. According to experts, the IP address traced to the attacks was leased from China, the South Korean National Intelligence Service noted in its report. “The attacks on Korean and...

The center will provide intelligence and warnings on cyber security threats when completeIn today's modern world, communications and access to network resources are a vital part of our infrastructure and our defense capability. An increasing number of cyber security threats pose a risk to our country by disrupting communications and data networks at home. To help combat the risk of cyber security threats, the NSA is set to build a new $1.5 billion cyber security data center to help provide intelligence and warnings related to cyber security threats across the government. InformationWeek reports that the NSA will soon break ground...

Related Story: Australia 'must prepare for cyber attack' SNIPPET: "More evidence is emerging of sophisticated attacks by criminals and foreign governments on Australia's computer networks. Government officials from the spy organisation ASIO, as well as federal police and computer security experts, have joined forces with the top-secret Defence Signals Directorate since July. The Cyber Security Operations Centre has found attacks on company information, apparently conducted by organised crime, which turn out to have national security implications."

The Department of Homeland Security will hire up to 1,000 cybersecurity experts over the next three years to help protect U.S. computer networks, an Obama administration official said. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano seeks to hire up to 1,000 cybersecurity experts. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano seeks to hire up to 1,000 cybersecurity experts. "Cybersecurity is one of our most urgent priorities," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in making the announcement Thursday. She unveiled the plans at an event marking the beginning of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

WASHINGTON — There’s no kill switch for the Internet, no secret on-off button in an Oval Office drawer. Yet when a Senate committee was exploring ways to secure computer networks, a provision to give the president the power to shut down Internet traffic to compromised Web sites in an emergency set off alarms. Corporate leaders and privacy advocates quickly objected, saying the government must not seize control of the Internet.

The rise of cyber attacks - and the call for global collaboration on solutions that reduce the threat - has led the United States Secret Service to become the sixth government agency to join Transglobal Secure Collaboration Program (TSCP). The move reflects a growing awareness of the need for a united effort and common solutions to defend against the advanced persistent threat of cyber attacks against nations and commercial organizations alike. High-profile attacks, such as GhostNet and the U.S. electrical grid infiltration, create the imperative for government agencies and private industry to work together on viable and robust solutions that...

“MI5 hiring Asian teenagers to fight cyber terror” London, September 21, 2009 First Published: 00:09 IST(21/9/2009) Last Updated: 02:44 IST(21/9/2009) SNIPPET: “MI5 head Jonathan Evans has told his staff that the recruits were essential to combat cyber terrorism which has been traced to China, Russia and Pakistan — the hackers have also intercepted messages from terrorists in Belmarsh maximum security prison, the newspaper said. In a report to Lord West, the Security Minister, Evans has revealed that during the summer over 1,000 hits were made on computers in Whitehall. Other targets have been air traffic control, power stations and the...

Security: A Senate bill lets the president "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "nongovernmental" computer networks and do what's needed to respond to the threat. Didn't they just collect our e-mail addresses?We wish this was just a piece of the fictional "Dr. Strangelove" that fell to the cutting-room floor, but it's not. It is a real piece of disturbingly vague legislation sponsored by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. Senate Bill 773 would grant the administration emergency powers (where have we heard that before?) in the event of a cyberemergency that the president would have...

Being the proverbial engineer, I want facts and data. So once again I heard rumblings about another Bill before the Senate and I wanted to decide for myself if this is a bad deal for Americans and to know who is telling me the truth. This time it is Senate Bill 773, “Cybersecurity Act of 2009.” While I think cyber security is an important issue, the government is once again overstepping its bounds into an area in which it really has no business, nor any expertise. From my reading of the Bill, it is loaded with ambiguity and massive amounts...

Yes, I know Al Gore didn't really invent the Internet, and it's not that I'm against cyber security in any way, shape or form, but I find the latest Senate bill currently making the rounds (excerpt here), in which the President would be given authority to shut down all or part of the entity we call the Internet "in an emergency," to be a little worrisome. Let me say right up front that I'm not (yet) one-hundred percent suspicious of everything that Barack Obama and his enablers in the Congress get up to. For example, I'm fine with them occasionally...

Democrat Senator Jay Rockefeller and liberal Republican Olympia Snowe are still working on that comprehensive cyber security bill that would give the president control over private portions of the Internet. Rockefeller and Snowe first announced their idea last spring. CNET has obtained a copy of the new draft legislation S. 773. Part of the bill reads: (B) may, if the President finds it necessary for the national defense and security, and in co- ordination with relevant industry sectors, direct the national response to the cyber threat and the timely restoration of the affected critical in- frastructure information system or network;...

A Senate bill, S-773, would offer President Obama emergency control of the Internet and may give him authority to shut down online traffic by seizing private networks. Details of a revised version of the CyberSecurity Act of 2009 emerged late Thursday (August 27th), months after an initial version authored by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). The original version was highly criticized in Silicon Valley as a dangerous government intrusion. The new version of the CyberSecurity Act of 2009 changes the wording to allow the President to “declare a cyber-security emergency” relating to “non-governmental” computer networks. As with the original bill, however,...

Obama-mania control of America continues, first the Census was pulled to the White House, now a bill that would give Obama and his unscrupulous cronies’ control of the internet is making its way through the Senate. The fact that Florida’s own, Bill Nelson, is a cosponsor is alarming and Central Floridians will not be happyThe sponsor and other cosponsors are: Sen Bayh, Evan [IN] - 4/2/2009 Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME] - 4/1/2009Sen Rockefeller, John D., IV (Sponsor) CNET has this quote in an article today: I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling due to its vagueness," said Larry...

In a recent congressional hearing, Senate Commerce Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D.-W.V.) told John P. Holdren, President Barack Obama’s science czar, that he sometimes refers to Holdren as “walking on water.”

Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet. They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency. The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer...

They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency. The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that...

A Senate bill would offer President Obama emergency control of the Internet and may give him a "kill switch" to shut down online traffic by seizing private networks -- a move cybersecurity experts worry will choke off industry and civil liberties.

Details of a revamped version of the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 show the Senate bill could give the president a "kill switch" on the Internet and allow him to shut out private networks from online access.

Computer scientists in Japan say they've developed a way to break the WPA encryption system used in wireless routers in about one minute. The attack gives hackers a way to read encrypted traffic sent between computers and certain types of routers that use the WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption system. The attack was developed by Toshihiro Ohigashi of Hiroshima University and Masakatu Morii of Kobe University, who plan to discuss further details at a technical conference set for Sept. 25 in Hiroshima. Last November, security researchers first showed how WPA could be broken, but the Japanese researchers have taken the...

The Internet has now become a vital outlet for commerce, communications & social networking to name a few, and has now breed an over-dependence in our daily lives. It's also become a target from more sinister factions and made our critical infrastructure now extremely vulnerable to cyber attacks. I have just completed a 4 week period of research and production for an audio documentary called 'The Slow Road to Cybersecurity'. What I have encountered, has made me wish I had never known about it. Cybersecurity has now entered a new era of concern, our risk and vulnerability is becoming a...

WASHINGTON -- Russian hackers hijacked American identities and U.S. software tools and used them in an attack on Georgian government Web sites during the war between Russia and Georgia last year, according to new research to be released Monday by a nonprofit U.S. group. In addition to refashioning common Microsoft Corp. software into a cyber-weapon, hackers collaborated on popular U.S.-based social-networking sites, including Twitter and Facebook Inc., to coordinate attacks on Georgian sites, the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit found. While the cyberattacks on Georgia were examined shortly after the events last year, these U.S. connections weren't previously known. "U.S. corporations...

Hi, this is IMissPresidentReagan aka Jodi Reaves for those who Facebook with me. My facebook was hacked this morning at some point and the hackers have told people I am trapped in London, England and need money desperately, which isn't true. I, fortunately, am in Kentucky, where I live, but I wanted to let everyone aware of the situation so that no one gets scammed. I have been contacted by several FReepers who were truly concerned. I've contacted the FBI cybercrimes unit, as well as my local and state police, along with Facebook and hope this scam is shut down....

An immediate ban on commercial social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace went into effect for all Marine Corps personnel using the unclassified Marine Corps Enterprise Network (MCEN) NIPRNET this past Monday. This ban does not affect the personal use of social media by Marines on their own private computers or wired devices. But perhaps it should. The ban went into effect — according to the memo — because the “very nature of social networking sites creates a larger attack and exploitation window, exposes unnecessary information to adversaries and provides an easy conduit for information leakage.” The stated...

Profile of a real cyberwar Beware the mayhem of malware on the march By Aaron Mannes and James Hendler | Wednesday, August 5, 2009 The denial-of-service (DoS) attacks that started on July 4 garnered typical headlines about cyberwar, but in fact, from a technical standpoint, those "attacks" may be the opposite of real cyberwar. A much less noticed report in Israel's leading daily, Ha'aretz, on Israel's operations against Iran's nuclear program may give greater insight into how cyberwar actually will work. It is no secret that several countries, including the United States, China, Russia and Israel, have examined cyberwar capabilities....

Hathaway’s abrupt resignation probably signals her recognition that the whole concept of a cybersecurity czar was misguided. “The status quo is no longer acceptable,” said the executive summary of her report. “Leadership should be elevated and strongly anchored within the White House to provide direction, coordinate action, and achieve results.” Having the old “Czar” report to both the national security and economic advisers shows that the White House is looking to insure “a balance between homeland security and economic concerns,” anonymous sources said. It also points out they’re trying to put out a fire [internal battle] in which Larry Summers,...

And other social networking sites as the Pentagon weighed a similar prohibition over cybersecurity concerns. The Marines had already banned the use of social media on military networks but issued a more detailed order this week defining which sites were out of bounds and noting possible exceptions to the rule, a Marine Corps spokesman, Lieutenant Craig Thomas said. "These Internet sites in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure, user generated content and targeting by adversaries," the Marine Corps said in an order posted on its website. "The...

The White House's senior aide on cybersecurity has decided to resign following delays in the appointment of a coordinator to spearhead the government's efforts to protect the nation's computer networks. Melissa E. Hathaway, who also served as a cybersecurity aide during the Bush administration, had been a contender for the position of cybersecurity coordinator. But in an interview Monday, she said she had withdrawn her application. "I wasn't willing to continue to wait any longer, because I'm not empowered right now to continue to drive the change," she said. "I've concluded that I can do more now from a different...

SNIPPET: "In theory at least, the Wild West days of Internet telecommunications are over. Based upon the inventions articulated in his five-patent suite, inventor Harry Emerson III, has mapped out a union between our secure and venerable telephone system - (Plain Old Telephone Service; a.k.a., POTS) - and the hyper-evolving, media-rich Internet which is so famously not one bit secure. As it evolves, he believes this next generation telecommunications system, dubbed IronPipe™, will have huge implications for national security as well as tremendous new revenue opportunities for the carriers and supply chains which serve them."

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Olympic organisers are "very alive" to the threat of a cyber attack on the London 2012 Olympics, made more challenging because of its evolving nature, senior Interior Ministry officials said on Tuesday. Ticketing systems, the transport network and hotel bookings as well as security are among potential targets. Olympic security officials are also planning for the possible diversion of aircraft to protect airspace around the venues from terrorist attacks, the officials said. The greatest threat to security at the Games is international terrorism, the government's latest "Safety and Security Strategy" report said.

WASHINGTON -- Federal agencies are facing a severe shortage of computer specialists, even as a growing wave of coordinated cyberattacks against the government poses potential national security risks, a private study found.

Are the latest cyber-attacks directed against South Korea and the United States — presumably from North Korea — a major threat, or not? The Wall Street Journal touted them as “among the broadest and longest-lasting assaults perpetrated on government and commercial Web sites in both countries.” The New York Times was more dismissive:

South Korea's state intelligence organization said Friday it has discovered that a wave of cyber attacks carried out earlier this week into key government and private websites in South Korea and the United States was launched from computers in 16 countries, Yonhap News Agency reported. The National Intelligence Service made the report to a closed-door meeting with members of a parliamentary intelligence committee, Yonhap quoted committee members as saying. North Korea was not among the 16 countries, which include South Korea, the United States, Japan, and Guatemala, Yonhap said. The cyber attacks have been traced to 86 Internet Protocol addresses...

"Cybersecurity Plan to Involve NSA, Telecoms DHS Officials Debating The Privacy Implications" SNIPPET: "The Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T as the likely test site, according to three current and former government officials. President Obama said in May that government efforts to protect computer systems from attack would not involve "monitoring private-sector networks or Internet traffic," and Department of Homeland Security officials say the new program will scrutinize only data going to or from government systems."

A few days ago, I read this article "Spies 'infiltrate US power grid' ", and I thought, "Wow, that's hardly a surprise," but I blew it off. I disregarded it-not because Michael Jackson's funeral was on TV, or because I was preparing/partying/recovering from 3 days of straight BBQ party for the Fourth of July. No, I blew it off because we all suspected this kind of thing was always happening, always possible, and it's like the threat of nuclear war: awful, not something one wants to think about, and we kind of already know the consequences. Today, multiple papers are...

The powerful attack that overwhelmed computers at U.S. and South Korean government agencies for days was even broader than initially realized, also targeting the White House, the Pentagon and the New York Stock Exchange. Other targets of the attack included the National Security Agency, Homeland Security Department, State Department, the Nasdaq stock market and The Washington Post, according to an early analysis of the malicious software used in the attacks. Many of the organizations appeared to successfully blunt the sustained computer assaults. The Associated Press obtained the target list from security experts analyzing the attacks. It was not immediately clear...

The flagship system designed to protect the U.S. government's computer networks from cyberspies is being stymied by technical limitations and privacy concerns, according to current and former national-security officials. The latest complete version of the system, known as Einstein, won't be fully installed for 18 months, according to current and former officials, seven years after it was first rolled out. This system doesn't protect networks from attack. It only raises the alarm after one has happened. A more capable version has sparked privacy alarms, which could delay its rollout. Since the National Security Agency acknowledged eavesdropping on phone and Internet...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A widespread computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the Web sites of the Treasury Department, the Secret Service and other U.S. agencies, and South Korean government sites also came under assault.

N. Korea suspected to be behind cyber attack: source SEOUL, July (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to have orchestrated the recent cyber attack that disrupted dozens of South Korean Web sites, including that of the presidential office, parliamentary sources said Wednesday, citing informal reports by the top spy agency. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) suspects North Korea or its sympathizers may have been behind the Internet attack against major South Korean Web sites of government agencies, banks and Internet portals, which was first detected Tuesday evening, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. The spy agency briefed...

WASHINGTON - A widespread and unusually resilient computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the Web sites of several government agencies, including some that are responsible for fighting cyber crime, The Associated Press has learned. The Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down at varying points over the holiday weekend and into this week, according to officials inside and outside the government. Some of the sites were still experiencing problems Tuesday evening.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean authorities issued a cyber security warning on Wednesday after the Web sites of several major government agencies and financial institutions were disabled by apparent hacker attacks. The Web sites of the presidential office, Defense Ministry, and the National Assembly were saturated with access requests generated by malicious software on Tuesday, crippling server response to legitimate traffic, South Korea's Communications Commission said in a statement. "The attacks consisted of massive harmful traffic to specific sites causing access slowdown or disablement, and some national institutions, banks and media sites have been targeted," it said. Some government Web...

Since Obama's landmark speech on cybersecurity in May, his administration hasn't revealed much about its long-percolating plans to shore up the government's defenses against hackers and cyberspies. But privacy advocates monitoring the initiative are already raising concerns about what they know and what they don't: the details that have trickled out--including the involvement of the National Security Agency--and the veil of classified information that still covers much of the multibillion-dollar project. "It feels like the Bush administration all over again," says Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum. "Not enough people know the details about these programs to...

Congressional computers have been penetrated, probably by the Chinese. The avionics system of the F-22 fighter may be compromised. Computers of our presidential candidates were hacked into -- and probably not by teenagers...Last year's advance of Russian tanks into Georgia was accompanied by the disruption of Georgian government computer systems. ...Attacks on computer systems will be an integral element of future conflict, and the United States is more dependent on computer networks than any other nation. ...policymakers and the military are in the early stages of coming to grips with this. We need to take some important first steps to...

WASHINGTON — A plan to create a new Pentagon cybercommand is raising significant privacy and diplomatic concerns, as the Obama administration moves ahead on efforts to protect the nation from cyberattack and to prepare for possible offensive operations against adversaries’ computer networks. President Obama has said that the new cyberdefense strategy he unveiled last month will provide protections for personal privacy and civil liberties. But senior Pentagon and military officials say that Mr. Obama’s assurances may be challenging to guarantee in practice, particularly in trying to monitor the thousands of daily attacks on security systems in the United States that...