Daily Beast

Why the Government Can’t Remain the Cybersecurity Czar Slate Magazine Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and author of CISPA Last week, the controversial cybersecurity bill known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act passed the House

As history has shown countless times, in the relationship between the governed, and those doing the governing, that once the governed let the nose of the camel in under their tent … that pretty soon the camel takes up the whole tent.

The governed are quickly on the outside looking in and only get to see what the camel lets them see, meanwhile the camel is quietly munching away on the opulent buffet it demands while those that work outside to support it have their lunch eaten too.

This Cybersecurity buffet is w-a-y too big and important to let the camel feed on. It’s already perhaps too big and powerful to bring down, but letting it gorge on this information smorgasbord of human thought capital and see what it’s thinking will remove all freedom of the governed … and for that reason alone the camel needs its water supply rationed, and indeed ready to be cut off.

New York Daily News

Technology vs. the Constitution New York Daily News By Stephen Leckar / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Police Commissioner Ray Kelly touted a new gun scan technology under development. The author warns against its overuse. What masters we are of the ability to create high-tech tools with actual or potential use to …

The article linked above is not directly related to cyber security per se but it raises a lot of questions that indirectly affect how we as individual citizens are impacted.

The hi tech tools and gadgets we are surrounded with today make it even more important to have strict rules in place for the people using them.

In the areas of technology and government agencies of one type or another that use hi tech tools, there are important issues that the article touches upon.

Whether it’s monitoring big companies to make sure their networks are reasonably secure so as not to be a threat to the national economy, or local law enforcement willy nilly using gadgets to search private citizens … who are by the way the actual employers of the police, there is a heck of a lot of thinking fodder.

George Bush junior as president once remarked when asked about the constitution that it was just a piece of paper. That statement would not go down well with a lot of people who put their ass on the line in previous wars etc. and have died over the ideas expressed in that piece of paper.

It is somewhat ironic that Joe Blow citizen who pays the bills and actually is the employer of all the people on the public payroll has no real direct control over how their own employees such as the police can violate written laws and violate them as well.

Everyone recognizes that in our type of society there has to be a balance between laws and how they are made and enforced and the rights, privacy, and freedoms enshrined in the constitution to protect citizens.

Technology is blurring these lines almost daily and history shows what happens when those that hold political power align themselves with those that hold military power through use of the gun.

It always boils down to the same issue. Those with the most guns (plus the hi tech tools of today) eventually win because they can’t be controlled after a certain point.

We have advanced to the point where we can control nuclear reactors (at least most of the time) but we have a consistent record as old as mankind that we can’t control political power+weapons.

Have we lost that control yet in America?

Energy Department launches cyber protection initiative for electrical grid -
Government Security News

Energy Department launches cyber protection initiative for electrical grid Government Security News 5 to further protect the electrical grid from cyber attacks, dubbed the “Electric Sector Cyber security Risk Management Maturity” project. The White House initiative, said Chu in a statement, is led by the Department of Energy (DOE) in partnership with …

This fits in with another story yesterday that there is already a hidden cyber war going on between nation states. It is expected now that before any physical hostilities break out between countries in the future that a cyber attack will lead the way trying to knock out communications, electricity,  and interrupt other important infrastructure like water supply and traffic lights.

Already we hear almost daily how the Chinese are probing all kinds of both military and commercial networks.

Another example that is probably the precursor to a war is what is going on in Iran. A so called virus or computer worm called stuxnet somehow found its way into the Iranian nuclear industry and by some accounts created havoc and actually destroyed equipment and interrupted processes.

What was largely not reported is that this virus was designed to infect and gain control of Siemens SCADA systems which are used around the world by major utilities for controlling the generation and distribution of electricity. The North American grid is full of them.

If this virus was introduced to the Iranian control systems by the U.S. or perhaps Israel as is widely suspected, then when reversed engineered by those who got infected, it will be somewhat ironic that our own power grid  will become vulnerable to it with some devastating results … like a complete blackout because of the way utilities are tied together to form the grid.

Multiple utilities in two different countries that form the grid will somehow have to organize themselves to combat this menace. With the way the grid works a fast take down of part of only one or two of the utilities could quickly cascade to a complete North American blackout, with the possible exception of Quebec.

There is probably a realization of this now and the scramble is on to prevent this worm or variations similar to it from infecting our own SCADA systems.

Actions have consequences … and this one could be a doozer.

As the Federal Government grows bigger and bigger, Cyber Security and the vulnerability to cyber assault of its federal agency systems grows geometrically. Since the integral network of various agencies and users is becoming more merged, multiple access points open up the entire network to attack. Although the government is cognizant of the threats and is taking action, oftentimes this has inhibited the productiveness of several agencies while at the same time causing the practice of remote unsecured devices to increase cyber hazards.

The presidency has made cyber security a top priority. Many federal executives nevertheless find they are inhibited by awkward cyber security procedures and policies at their departments in the areas of data access, computing functionality, and mobility. Federal agency measures frequently create cyber security-related obstacles, such as being constrained in accessing info at home, and disrupted communication with fellow employees. As a consequence, productivity suffers. While cyber attackers are daring and agile, fed agency reaction remains bureaucratic bound and stifling.

The consequent cyber security measures, frequently more bureaucratic than threat reactive, restricts admittance to websites and web mail accounts that may be helpful to federal executives. Limiting these types of information sources oftentimes negatively impacts the efficiency with which executives perform their jobs. Federal agency personnel frequently encounter slow-loading websites, delayed login access, wearisome email downloads, and long file download times.

It’s just astonishing the number of reports of cyber attacks and hackers hacking into large corporations. It seems every day we see that there have been cyber attacks on our government agencies, defense department, and our Fortune 500 companies. Today not only government agencies, but likewise its citizens are advocating for stronger cyber defense mechanisms, and better protected computer networking systems. Plainly, this is totally meeting with approval by the lobbyists in the computer industries and the cyber security software programming sector.

Maybe you are as anxious as I am about the future of computer networking security? I recently ear marked an article in Homeland Security News, one of many I have done so with, but this one really made me stop and ponder. The piece was published on July 15, 2011 in the Cyber Business Section titled; “Recent deluge of cyber attacks results in record spending,” and it noted:

“The deluge of high profile cyber attacks on major corporations and government entities like the U.S. Senate, the CIA, and Sony has driven a sharp increase in demand for cyber security experts; in the first six months of this year alone, cyber attacks and data breaches have cost U.S. companies approximately $96 billion, nearly the total for 2010; analysts project 2011 to be the busiest year yet with an estimated $75.6 billion in cyber security spending, surpassing last year’s record $63 billion.”

The preponderance of data security attacks and threats is increasing in power and sophistication with nation state backed Cyber attacks becoming more frequent. Although constituting isolated attacks thus far, the new series of Cyber attacks are more prevalent and threatening. With the advent of (often unfriendly) national engagement in Cyber offensives, the jeopardy to our country’s National Security is substantial and potentially very devastating. This is particularly the case as the net expands in both size and sophistication and becomes more intertwined each day with government, public infrastructure, corporations, and ordinary netizens.

The reality of Cyber Warfare, attacks and threats is tangible and potentially crushing to defense and commercial interests. Although substantial initiatives  are pushing ahead  to ward off the threat, an outstanding effort is required to set up standard definitions and concepts so that everyone knows what the baseline is.

We, as a country, are not prepared to defend against a coordinated, potent Cyber attack from either within or from beyond our shores. Will it take a 911 type Cyber Attack to expose our weaknesses? While substantial dollars have been budgeted for Info and Cyber security, the management and preparation for an effectual farsighted defense against Cyber terrorists is not yet evident. Greater effort on preparing and organizing defenses and offensive scenarios of Cyber Security is mandatory … and one of the initial steps must be the definition of Cyber/Information Terms and concepts.