Cyber attacks against government agencies and businesses in the United States continue to rise, and cyber threats will one day surpass the danger of terrorism to the United States, FBI Director Mueller reported today in a recent open hearing of the Senate select intelligence community. READ MORE
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"Russia and China are aggressive and successful purveyors of economic espionage against the United States," and "Iran's intelligence operations against the United States, including cyber capabilities, have dramatically increased in recent years in depth and complexity." ... testimony by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in his prepared testimony (.pdf) to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. READ MORE
Director Clapper's prepared statement (.pdf)...
Director Clapper's prepared statement (.pdf)...
America the Vulnerable: Inside the New Threat Matrix of Digital Espionage, Crime, and Warfare
Joel Brenner, a former Director of Counterintelligence in the office of the Director of National Intelligence. goes behind the headlines to explore America's next great battleground: digital security. An urgent wake-up call that identifies our foes; unveils their methods; and charts the dire consequences for government, business, and individuals. MORE at Amazon.com ...Auditing Cloud Computing: A Security and Privacy Guide
The auditor's guide to ensuring correct security and privacy practices in a cloud computing environment provides necessary guidance to build a proper audit to ensure operational integrity and customer data protection, among other aspects, are addressed for cloud based resources. The book includes a chapter written by SF Bay InfraGard member and Member of the chapter's Board of Directors, Jeff Fenton! MORE at Amazon.com
DigitalBond, a SCADA security company that led the
research, said ... "We felt it was important to provide tools that showed critical
infrastructure owners how easy it is for an attacker to take control of
their system with potentially catastrophic results," .Vulnerabilities were reported in widely used programmable logic controllers (PLCs) made by General Electric, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Modicon, Koyo Electronics and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. READ MORERELATED:
What me worry? A security researcher was able to locate and map more than 10,000 industrial control systems hooked up to the public internet, including water and sewage plants, and found that many could be vulnerable to easy hack attacks. READ MORE
DHS is taking over control of the Pentagon project that shared classified intelligence with select military contractors and their communications providers, DIB Cybersecurity Pilot.
The new arrangement puts DHS, the civilian agency responsible for facilitating the protection of private critical infrastructure, in charge of communicating with private Internet service providers. The Defense Department will continue to be the point of contact for contractors, officials said. MORE INFO
DHS Joint Cybersecurity Services Pilot (JCSP)
The new arrangement puts DHS, the civilian agency responsible for facilitating the protection of private critical infrastructure, in charge of communicating with private Internet service providers. The Defense Department will continue to be the point of contact for contractors, officials said. MORE INFO
DHS Joint Cybersecurity Services Pilot (JCSP)
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced an initiative to further protect the electrical grid from cyber attacks. The "Electric Sector Cybersecurity Risk Management Maturity" project, a White House initiative led by the Department of Energy in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), will leverage the insight of private industry and public sector experts to build on existing cybersecurity measures and strategies to create a more comprehensive and consistent approach to protecting the nation's energy delivery system. MORE INFO
White House Blog - Protecting the Nation's Electric Grid from Cyber Threats...
White House Blog - Protecting the Nation's Electric Grid from Cyber Threats...
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has released the Trustworthy Cyberspace: Strategic Plan for the Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Program--a road map to ensuring long-term reliability and trustworthiness of the digital communications network that is increasingly at the heart of American economic growth and global competitiveness. OSTP Press Release, DOWNLOAD REPORT (.pdf)
A House Homeland Security Committee has drafted a bill that would create a nonprofit entity to share information on cyber threats. This concept is competing with a bill already passed by the House Intelligence Committee. See our post on Equal Opportunity Info Sharing
The proposed National Information Sharing Organization, or NISO, would be guided by a board of directors composed of two privacy advocates and 10 representatives from critical infrastructure sectors, including the banking, communications, defense contracting, energy and health care industries. MORE INFO
The proposed National Information Sharing Organization, or NISO, would be guided by a board of directors composed of two privacy advocates and 10 representatives from critical infrastructure sectors, including the banking, communications, defense contracting, energy and health care industries. MORE INFO
UPDATE: December 1, 2011
The House Intelligence Committee held a closed-door markup of a bill (HR 3523) intended to enhance cybersecurity through empowering the federal government to share classified cyber threat information with businesses.
"There is an economic cyber war going on today against US companies. " "There are two types of companies in this country, those who know they've been hacked, and those who don't know they've been hacked. Economic predators, including nation-states, are blatantly stealing business secrets and innovation from private companies. This cybersecurity bill goes a long way in helping American businesses better protect their networks and their intellectual property."
The committee's ranking member, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), said "We simply can't stand by if we have the ability to help American companies protect themselves. Sharing information about cyber threats is a critical step to preventing them. This bill is a good start toward helping the private sector safeguard its intellectual property and critical cyber networks, including those that power our electrical, water and banking systems. The bill maintains vital protections for privacy and civil liberties without any new federal spending, regulations or unfunded mandates."
READ MORE
Previously...
Our post back on June 20, 2011 discussed the Defense Industrial Base Cyber Pilot program where the government is helping the defense industry in safeguarding the information their computer systems hold. MORE INFO
It was inevitable that if this program was starting to show success that other CI/KR would want the same support that was being provided the Defense Industrial Base!
In a recent article in NextGov we hear that other businesses, such as the energy and banking sectors, want to join a new government program that would give them access to classified intelligence on cyber threats. READ MORE
The House Intelligence Committee held a closed-door markup of a bill (HR 3523) intended to enhance cybersecurity through empowering the federal government to share classified cyber threat information with businesses.
"There is an economic cyber war going on today against US companies. " "There are two types of companies in this country, those who know they've been hacked, and those who don't know they've been hacked. Economic predators, including nation-states, are blatantly stealing business secrets and innovation from private companies. This cybersecurity bill goes a long way in helping American businesses better protect their networks and their intellectual property."
The committee's ranking member, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), said "We simply can't stand by if we have the ability to help American companies protect themselves. Sharing information about cyber threats is a critical step to preventing them. This bill is a good start toward helping the private sector safeguard its intellectual property and critical cyber networks, including those that power our electrical, water and banking systems. The bill maintains vital protections for privacy and civil liberties without any new federal spending, regulations or unfunded mandates."
READ MORE
Previously...
Our post back on June 20, 2011 discussed the Defense Industrial Base Cyber Pilot program where the government is helping the defense industry in safeguarding the information their computer systems hold. MORE INFO
It was inevitable that if this program was starting to show success that other CI/KR would want the same support that was being provided the Defense Industrial Base!
In a recent article in NextGov we hear that other businesses, such as the energy and banking sectors, want to join a new government program that would give them access to classified intelligence on cyber threats. READ MORE
FBI SA John Chesson, the FBI coordinator for the San Francisco InfraGard chapter, was recently asked to talk about how InfraGard supports businesses by AllBusiness.com. #1: More on the FBI's InfraGard Program #2: Small Business Plays a Role in Stopping Economic Espionage
