cybersecurity

The government has made great strides working with private industry to secure the nation's critical infrastructure, an advisory board to the president and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday, but top executives in the private sector need to step up and do more.

With infrastructure like electric grids, water, and telecommunications largely in the hands on private industry, it is up to the leaders in those sectors to work with government to keep the country safe--yet the participation of chief executives in such efforts has steadily waned since September 11, 2001, according to a working group … Read more

Two Europeans, one of whom is English, have been indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in connection with a 2003 distributed denial-of-service attack that is the focus of a major FBI investigation.

The two men, who are not in custody, were indicted as part of the FBI's Operation Cyberslam, initiated in 2003 following a series of crippling distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks on a large Los Angeles vendor of digital recorders. The attacks effectively knocked that business offline, along with other private and government bodies, for two weeks, resulting in losses ranging from $200,000 to more … Read more

A new authorization bill would give the White House more oversight of the Homeland Security Department's much-beleaguered cybersecurity efforts.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Friday introduced its DHS authorization bill (PDF) for fiscal years 2008 and 2009, which calls for the director of the National Cyber Security Center to be appointed by and, in some circumstances, to report directly to the president.

DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff in March announced the appointment of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Rod Beckström as the NCSC director. Beckström reports directly to Chertoff, though Under Secretary Robert Jamison … Read more

What really drives me crazy about our government--and it applies to Republicans and Democrats alike--is the blithe insouciance of empowered apparatchiks who run their respective fiefdoms as if they have all the time in the world to get things done.

When the president proposed the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, supporters of the idea predicted that among other things, it would spur a vigorous drive to rebuild the nation's cybersecurity. Yes, it would be part of a huge bureaucracy, but just think of the outcome by combining such a reservoir of talents and resources under one roof. … Read more

After a week of dealing with critics arguing that some agency other than the U.S. Department of Homeland Security should handle the nation's cybersecurity efforts, Homeland Security has come to its own defense.

DHS Undersecretary Robert Jamison said in a new blog post that "we must stay the course" and cybersecurity responsibility should not be reshuffled.

At multiple hearings last week, members of a cybersecurity commission told Congress that the DHS is incapable of handling cybersecurity, and the responsibility should be moved to the White House. In addition, the commission specifically criticized the lack of leadership … Read more

Political pressure is mounting to eliminate the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's lead role over cybersecurity, a move that that would effectively admit the agency's failure to adequately perform its assigned duties.

But that invites the obvious question: Who should take over? One option would be, as we heard earlier this week, the White House itself. Another choice would be the more shadowy world of intelligence agencies such as the CIA or National Security Agency, which already is responsible for protecting government computers through its "information assurance" arm.

All week, members of a cybersecurity commission … Read more

When President Bush signed the bill creating the Department of Homeland Security in 2002, he said, "the department will be charged with encouraging research on new technologies that can detect these threats in time to prevent an attack." What have we got to show for that? CNET News' Declan McCullagh explains why Homeland Security is under renewed criticism for its track record--or lack thereof--when it comes to cybersecurity.

In the aftermath of a software patch from Apple to fix lingering glitches in the latest version of the iPhone, CNET puts the product through its paces, and CNET Reviews' … Read more

WASHINGTON--When politicians got together six years ago and decided to glue together a medley of federal agencies to create the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, one of the justifications was a better focus on cybersecurity.

"The department will gather and focus all our efforts to face the challenge of cyberterrorism," President Bush said when signing the 500-or-so-page bill into law in November 2002. "This department will be charged with encouraging research on new technologies that can detect these threats in time to prevent an attack."

That was then. Now, Homeland Security is weathering a deluge … Read more

WASHINGTON--The potential for "cybersecurity" attacks on the United States' electric power grids has spurred politicians to consider legislation to broaden federal authority over electric companies.

Congress already has been consulting with federal agencies and industry associations over how to craft such legislation. On Thursday, legislators sought further input at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce's subcommittee on energy and air quality.

Industry representatives endorsed the idea of strengthening federal authority in the event of an imminent cybersecurity threat but cautioned against expanding the government's powers too broadly.

"We understand the seriousness of the … Read more