Let me start this blog by saying that I am completely in favor of a broader leadership role for the U.S. Federal Government in cybersecurity. Based upon inside knowledge and lots of horror stories I've heard, I strongly believe that the state of cybersecurity is far worse that most people think.
That said, I am also worried that cybersecurity is a political hot potato that may already be out of control. Here are a few examples that lead me to this conclusion:
1. The new U.S. Cyber Command owned by DOD and NSA may or may not play in the civilian world. There is already a lot of scuttlebutt about the fact that DHS may have lost out in a power grab for cyber security because of weaknesses within the department. While the stated Cyber Command goal is for military cybersecurity only, I wonder how it will work with DHS and the White House cybersecurity coordinator.
2. While the President searches for his cybersecurity coordinator, Senators Rockefeller (D-WV) and Snowe (R-ME) hope to push their Cybersecurity Act of 2009 through a Senate subcommittee in July. Since the month of July starts this week, shouldn't this activity be in lock-step with the appointment of the White House cybersecurity coordinator?
3. DHS is coordinating a program called Einstein to centralize network security. The goal is to get each Federal agency to use Einstein technology so DHS can capture and correlate network security activity across Federal government. Okay, but Einstein is based on proprietary software developed by Carnegie-Mellon and funded by DHS. Why is DHS funding this development effort when there is plenty of commercially-available software available for the same purpose?
As if this isn't enough, we've already had a public warning about the cybersecurity power grab by former DHS honcho (and obvious insider) Rod Beckstrom. Yikes!
I am old enough to remember when military contractors were charging thousands of dollars for hammers and toilets while laughing all the way to the bank. Yes, the state of cybersecurity is a mess and we need immediate improvements but we also need oversight soon so this doesn't turn into another Washington boondoggle. While cybersecurity is a real and pressing issue, let me remind our elected officials that we also have some macro economic and Federal budget woes to address.
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cyber-politics
We have a dangerous precedent being set with this initiative. Curious still is the silence of those who screamed bloody murder about the Patriot Act. It would seem the dangers they contrived with that legislation would be more realistic with this amorphous language. Given the fluid nature of the Internet, this type of government activity would be wandering in a huge gray area subject to interpretation which could not be trusted. In the context of the edict handed down by Nepolitano sometime back, there is clearly the prospect of first amendment infringement issues based on again the ambiguous nature this new agency in the face of an evolving media.
The NSA and the DOD are in a
The NSA and the DOD are in a power grab with DHS for the cyber domain, because this is amount HUGE pots of money. The same thing happened for years within the Intelligence community when the CIA, NSA, DIA, FBI, and others repositioned themselves to obtaining more intelligence dollars from Congress. The "turf wars" in cyberspace have only begun and they will get ugly!! Especially when the NSA starts demanding unrestricted access to networks within the critical infrastructures. The U.S. Congress needs to control this situation now, before it gets out of hand.
Why Einstein and Carnegie-Mellon? Well review the employment history and you would have a clue.
NSA and DOD are in a
ABSOLUTELY review the employment history. If you haven't figured out the clue yet, CMU and its daughter ship SEI have for decades hired retired VERY senior military and government leadership to lead the charge for an unbroken stream of funding from the DoD and other departments by way of personal relationships with "current" cronies who have an eye for joining the boys club when they retire.
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