Posted on 05/12/2011 3:41:38 AM PDT by markomalley
The White House on Thursday is expected to unveil its proposal to enhance the nation's cybersecurity, laying out plans to require industry to better protect systems that run critical infrastructure like the electrical grid, financial systems and nuclear power plants.
The Obama administration also is insisting that companies tell consumers when their personal information has been compromised.
According to cybersecurity experts familiar with the plan, the administration's proposed legislation also would instruct federal agencies to more closely monitor their computer networks.
Several House and Senate committees have been working on cybersecurity legislation for the past two years, while waiting for the administration to weigh in with its proposal. The process has been difficult, as industry leaders, privacy advocates and security experts wrangled over how to protect the U.S. from cyberattacks without infringing on business practices or civil liberties.
The threat is diverse, ranging from computer hackers going after banking and financial accounts to terrorists or other nations breaching government networks to steal sensitive data or sabotage critical systems like the electrical grid, nuclear plants or Wall Street.
Federal computer networks are being scanned and attacked millions of times a day, and U.S. officials warn that hackers have begun targeting power plants and other critical operations to either bring them down or take them over. A glaring example was the Stuxnet worm that targeted Iran's nuclear program last year, including the infection of laptops at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
"Details about the White House bill have been kept under wraps"
Of course. They don't want to tell the public what they're going to do until they are actually doing it *to* the public.
Anyone want to guess which “czar” will run this program?
From experience I know how awful it is once you have been compromised - but it’s like anything in life, businesses will do what needs doing so they can remain in business, particularly in the financial sector. The govt doesn’t need central planning for it.
I would welcome the govt actually being proactive to go after the foreign sources constantly trying to crack US govt and private sector IT. Surely the US govt could compromise and destroy some hack equipment operations in Nigeria or Russia? Why just take it, why not go out and destroy it - all day every day - lessening the burden on private business to meet a govt. mandate?
This will actually be a greater assault on our civil liberties than the Patriot Act ever was.
Hope all those liberals and libertarians who have been condemning the Patriot Act will be just as loud in condemning this plan....and Obammie the Commie for pushing it.
The White House has a cyber coordinator, Howard Schmidt, but the administration has been opposed to having the position subject to Senate confirmation.
The most transparent administration in history.
‘businesses will do what needs doing so they can remain in business, particularly in the financial sector. The govt doesn’t need central planning for it.”
I run a security business and am really torn on this. Most business will not do what needs to be done. They will ignore the problem vs spending money to fix it. I’ve had banks tell me they’ll accept the risk of a data breach after they did a cost analysis and figured it would cost them less than fixing the problem. I’ve had CEO’s tell me they don’t want to know what their problems are because then they are responsible to fix them.
Of course govt agencies don’t follow the rules in place for them either. They are pathetic in most cases.
The best example of what works is PCI (for credit cards), where the industry got together and made a solution that seems to be making things better. its not perfect but it kept the govt out of the mix.
from :http://www.thefreedictionary.com/unveil
Verb
1. unveil - remove the veil from; “Women must not unveil themselves in public in Islamic societies”<.B>
uncover, expose - remove all or part of one’s clothes to show one’s body; “uncover your belly”; “The man exposed himself in the subway”
veil - to obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil; “women in Afghanistan veil their faces”
The writer has got it wrong. It is not a difficult task, rather it is an impossible task.
Civil liberties WILL be infringed.
Most transparent administration in history.
3 for this job and one more to tell him he is an idiot.
(This is almost as fun as posting "Bush's Fault"...)
And this is because the government has demonstrated its outstanding ability to protect its own networks????
Ooh, ooh. Call on me. Call on me. I know. It’s going to be the Putz of New York, Michael Bloomberg. He’s been wagging his tail over the forced alert system for cellphones almost as much as Obamao has over taking out Bin Laden. Bloomberg, with his penchant for overbearing government, not to mention his stunt in doing an end run around NYC’s terms limit, is just the little dictator type Obamao will need to run the Big Brother operation.
Avoid cloud services, encrypt your email and take other measures.
Oh great. Under this plan half the people on the internet will be government drones (making tons-o-money) watching the other half of the people on the internet.
Oh, yeah. Whatever it’s called has no relationship to what it will do.
Where is the ACLU???
DEFENSE.gov (AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE): Washington - "White House Launches U.S. International Cyber Strategy" by Cheryl Pellerin (SNIPPET: "White House officials yesterday launched a strategy that the administration says unifies U.S. engagement with international partners on a range of cyber issues for the first time. The International Strategy for Cyberspace was presented here by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III. "Cyberspace and the technologies that enable it allow people of every nationality, race, faith and point of view to communicate, cooperate and prosper like never before," President Barack Obama said in an introduction to the report.") (May 17, 2011)
NOTE The following text is a quote:
www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=63966
News
American Forces Press Service
White House Launches U.S. International Cyber Strategy
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2011 – White House officials yesterday launched a strategy that the administration says unifies U.S. engagement with international partners on a range of cyber issues for the first time.
Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III addresses the White House Launch of the International Strategy for Cyberspace in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., May 16, 2011. From left, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, Attorney General Eric Holder, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan joined Lynn. White House photo by Lawrence Jackson
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
The International Strategy for Cyberspace was presented here by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III.
“Cyberspace and the technologies that enable it allow people of every nationality, race, faith and point of view to communicate, cooperate and prosper like never before,” President Barack Obama said in an introduction to the report.
“Citizens across the globe,” he added, “are being empowered with information technologies to help make their governments more open and responsive.”
“I am delighted to carry forward our defense cooperation in the cyber realm,” Lynn said, “and look forward to working closely in this effort with the departments of State, Justice, Commerce and Homeland Security, and under the continued leadership of President Obama.”
In a May 16 White House blog post, White House cybersecurity coordinator Howard A. Schmidt wrote that the international strategy is larger than any one department or agency.
“It is a strong foundation for the diverse activities we will carry out across our entire government,” he added. “It is about the principles that unite our nation, the vision that unites our policy, and the priorities that unite our government.”
The report says the United States will:
— Combine diplomacy, defense and development to realize a future in which cyberspace is open to innovation, is interoperable worldwide, and is secure and reliable;
— Ensure through diplomacy that as many nations as possible have access to the economic, social, political and security benefits of cyberspace;
— Expand the benefits of a connected world by offering its technical resources and expertise through international development to help in building and securing digital systems;
— Protect its networks from terrorists, cyber criminals and states, and will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as it would to any other threat to the country; and
— Encourage positive actions and dissuade those who threaten peace and stability in cyberspace with policies that combine national and international network resilience with vigilance and response options.
The United States reserves the right, the report adds, to use all necessary means — diplomatic, informational, military and economic — to defend the nation and its allies, partners and interests, seeking broad international support whenever possible.
The military’s role in keeping its networks secure will be further detailed in the Defense Department’s forthcoming Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace, Lynn said.
Because the commitment to defend citizens, allies and interests extends to wherever they are threatened, the report says, the United States will:
— Recognize and adapt to the military’s increasing need for reliable and secure networks;
— Build and enhance existing military alliances to confront potential threats in cyberspace; and
— Expand cyberspace cooperation with allies and partners to increase collective security.
Over the past year, Lynn said, the Defense Department has worked with officials in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the NATO alliance to strengthen cyber partnerships.
“While our efforts are increasingly linked with many international partners,” he added, “far greater levels of cooperation with more nations are needed if we are to stay ahead of the cyber threat.”
The new international strategy, Lynn said, “provides a framework for how we can expand this cooperation and establishes how network security relates to other crucial areas of partnership.”
Biographies:
William J. Lynn III
Related Sites:
Special Report: Cybersecurity
Lynn’s Remarks
White House Blog: Launching the U.S. International Strategy for Cyberspace
Related Articles:
Lynn: Cyberspace Strategy to Build Coalition of Nations
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