President Biden Signs National Security Memorandum To Bolster Cybersecurity For Pentagon And Spy Agencies Computer Systems

The memorandum builds upon a May 2021 executive order aimed at improving cybersecurity across the entirety of federal government systems. (Adam Schultz/The White House via AP)  

CNN: Biden signs memo to boost spy agencies' cyber defenses 

(CNN)President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a national security memorandum to bolster cybersecurity for sensitive computer systems used by the Pentagon and US spy agencies amid an array of hacking threats from foreign governments. 

The White House said the measures would "[raise] the bar for the cybersecurity of our most sensitive systems," and build on an executive order Biden signed last year to shore up federal IT security. 

The memo requires agencies to adopt a series of key cybersecurity practices, including encryption and multi-factor authentication, and charges the National Security Agency with holding agencies accountable for their security shortcomings.  

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WNU Editor: I thought these systems were already bolstered!?!?!? As if a memo will change anything. 

President Biden Signs National Security Memorandum To Bolster Cybersecurity For Pentagon And Spy Agencies Computer Systems  

Memorandum on Improving the Cybersecurity of National Security, Department of Defense, and Intelligence Community Systems -- White House  

Biden signs memorandum to secure sensitive national security systems -- C4ISRNet  

Biden administration sets new requirements for US secure networks -- Reuters  

Biden moves to boost security of sensitive national security systems -- The Hill 

Biden signs memo to secure DoD, IC national security systems -- Breaking Defense 

Biden says defense, intel agencies have to follow cyber EO requirements, too -- Federal News Network

Pentagon To Boost Cybersecurity Force Fivefold

A network defender works at the Air Force Space Command Network Operations & Security Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Pentagon is expanding efforts to safeguard critical computer systems and conduct cyberattacks against foreign adversaries, officials say. RICK WILKING/Reuters

Pentagon To Boost Cybersecurity Force -- Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon plans to assign significantly more personnel in coming years to counter increasing threats against U.S. government computer networks and conduct offensive operations against foreign foes, a U.S. defense official said on Sunday.

The plan, which would increase both military and civilian staffing at U.S. Cyber Command, comes as the Pentagon moves toward elevating the new command and putting it on the same level as the major combatant commands.

The official said no formal decisions had been made on the expanding staffing levels or changing Cyber Command into a "unified" command like U.S. Strategic Command, which currently oversees cyber command and the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal.

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More News On The U.S. Boosting It's Cybersecurity Force

Pentagon to boost cybersecurity force -- Washington Post
Pentagon Expanding Cybersecurity Force to Protect Networks Against Attacks -- New York Times
Pentagon to boost cybersecurity force: report -- AFP
US approves major boost for cyber security -- The Australian

A Cybersecurity Hotline?

Britain In Talks On Cybersecurity Hotline With China And Russia -- The Guardian

Existing protocols not robust enough for emergencies that could materialise in cyberspace, says Foreign Office official

Britain has begun tentative talks with China and Russia about setting up a hotline to help prevent cyber-emergencies from spiralling out of control.

The discussions are at an early stage but they reflect anxiety from all sides that a calamity in cyberspace, whether deliberate or accidental, could have devastating consequences unless there is a quick and reliable way for senior officials to reach each other.

The US has been talking to the Chinese about a similar arrangement and the ideas will be among several raised at an international conference on cybersecurity in Hungary on Thursday.

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Update: Hague calls for global deal over cyber emergencies -- The Independent

My Comment:These discussions are still in the early stages .... but considering how important the digital economy is becoming, it will not surprise me to see such a "hotline" in place in the next few years.

The U.S. Digital Economy Is Now Worth $2 Trillion A Year

Bravo New York Times For Discovering Reality in 'Power, Pollution and The Internet' -- Forbes

This past Sunday, investigative journalists at The New York Times created something of a furor in the dweeb-o-sphere with a lengthy article titled Power, Pollution and the Internet: The Cloud Factories.

“A yearlong examination by The New York Times has revealed that [the] foundation of the information industry is sharply at odds with its image of sleek efficiency and environmental friendliness.”

The Times’ journalists uncovered the ‘shocking’ fact that the Internet, from Facebook and Instagram, to iCloud and Amazon, is only possible because behind the sleek Galaxies, iPhones and iPads lurks a truly massive physical infrastructure. Warehouse-scale buildings that dwarf a typical Wal-Mart store, chock full of hot microprocessors. And they all consume enormous quantities of energy too. Go figure.

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My Comment: The U.S. digital economy is worth $2 trillion .... now you know why issues like cyber-security, cyber-attacks, cyber-war, etc. are important and need to be discussed all the time.

Will President Obama Issue An Executive Order On Cybersecurity?

Obama Faces Delicate Decision as Cyberattack Fears Rise -- National Journal

Experts urge action, but the politics of cybersecurity can be tricky.

At the height of the economic crisis in 2008, Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” comedy news show rolled out the character Oscar Rogers as a faux financial commentator. His advice on how to restore the economy? “Fix it! It needs to be fixed! Now!”

Four years later, lawmakers are grappling with a cybercrisis, and despite rising concerns, legislative debates over how to secure U.S. networks and infrastructure have often resembled nothing so much as Oscar Rogers yelling “Fix it!”

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My Comment: I never like the idea of this President or any other President circumventing Congress .... the precedent that it establishes all but guarantees abuses and problems in the future.

Cybersecurity Bill Fails In The US Senate

Cybersecurity Bill Fails In Senate -- Washington Post

A bill establishing security standards to prevent large-scale cyberattacks on the nation’s critical infrastructure — including water supplies and the electrical grid — failed in the U.S. Senate on Thursday despite strong endorsements from top military and national security officials.

Senators voted 52 to 46 in favor of the bill, coming up short of the two-thirds majority necessary to advance it to final passage. The failure to pass the measure further stalls years of bipartisan efforts to establish stricter security standards and, experts say, could leave the nation vulnerable to widespread hacking or a serious cyberattack.

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More News On The Failure Of The US Cybersecurity Bill

Cyber-security measure fails to pass in Senate -- L.A. Times
Senate fails to approve cybersecurity legislation -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Cybersecurity Bill Is Blocked in Senate by G.O.P. Filibuster -- New York Times
Hopes fade for new U.S. cybersecurity law in 2012 -- Reuters
US Senate blocks Obama-backed cybersecurity bill -- AFP
Political infighting blocks Senate passage of cybersecurity bill despite dire warnings -- Christian Science Monitor
Despite Threat of ‘Cyber 9/11′, Lawmakers Punt Cyber Security Bill -- ABC News
Senators hold out hope that cybersecurity bill can be revived -- The Hill

President Obama Makes The Case For His Cybersecurity Act

President Barack Obama meets with his national security team. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Taking the Cyberattack Threat Seriously -- President Obama, Wall Street Journal

In a future conflict, an adversary unable to match our military supremacy on the battlefield might seek to exploit our computer vulnerabilities here at home.

Last month I convened an emergency meeting of my cabinet and top homeland security, intelligence and defense officials. Across the country trains had derailed, including one carrying industrial chemicals that exploded into a toxic cloud. Water treatment plants in several states had shut down, contaminating drinking water and causing Americans to fall ill.

Our nation, it appeared, was under cyber attack. Unknown hackers, perhaps a world away, had inserted malicious software into the computer networks of private-sector companies that operate most of our transportation, water and other critical infrastructure systems.

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Update: Congress is not listening.

Are DoD Networks Completely Compromised?

DoD Networks Completely Compromised, Experts Say -- CIO

A group of U.S. federal cybersecurity experts recently blasted the Defense Department's network security efforts and called for a completely new and different model for DoD cybersecurity in the future.

The Defense Department’s (DoD) computer networks have been totally compromised by foreign spies, according to federal cybersecurity experts. The experts, speaking before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, say current efforts to protect those networks are misguided at best.

Those expert claim that the billions spent by the government on cybersecurity have provided only a limited increase in protection; attackers can penetrate DoD networks; and the defense supply chain and physical systems are at high risk of attack.

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My Comment: So .... after hiring thousands of specialists .... starting and organizing new departments .... and spending billions of dollars .... our networks are not safe?!?!?!?!

Senators Renew Push For Cybersecurity Bill, Absent 'Kill Switch' -- FOX News

Senators are taking another crack at pushing a broad cybersecurity bill three years in the making, once again stripping a controversial Internet "kill switch" and making other concessions in a bid to find an elusive bipartisan majority in an election year.

Several Republican senators already have raised concern with the bill, and have urged Senate leaders to allow time for other committees to weigh in.

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Update #1: Senators introduce new cybersecurity act -- ZDNet
Update #2: Compromise cybersecurity bill still draws GOP fire -- GCN
Update #3: Senate bill aims at cybersecurity standards -- Washington Times

My Comment: The White House is 'pleased' with the speed at which the cybersecurity bill is progressing .... what is my take .... this process has been ongoing for a number of years .... I am going to reserve comment until the bill is tabled.

Concerns On Cybersecuirty Legislation Being Raised

Groups Warn Of Privacy Concerns In Cybersecurity Bills -- National Journal

Some efforts to share more information about cyberthreats could open a Pandora’s Box of privacy and civil rights concerns, civil liberties advocates said on Thursday.

As Congress looks to pass wide-ranging cybersecurity legislation this year, several bills included proposals for increasing the flow of information between government agencies and private companies.

If not implemented carefully, such measures could undermine privacy and other limits on government intrusion, the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Gregory Nojeim said at a Capitol Hill briefing for staffers.

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More News On Cybersecurity Privacy Concerns

Senators to introduce long-awaited cybersecurity bill next week -- Federal Times
Cybersecurity experts: Major telecom providers are secure -- The Hill
The Senate’s SOPA Counterattack?: Cybersecurity the Undoing of Privacy -- Jim Harper, Cato@Libert

My Comment: According to some, those privacy concerns are now moot.

After Wikileaks, President Obama Issues New Cybersecuirty Guidelines

View of the WikiLeaks homepage taken in Washington on November 28, 2010. National Journal

White House Issues ‘WikiLeaks’ Order To Secure Classified Data -- Threat Level

More than a year after thousands of classified and sensitive U.S. government documents were leaked to the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks, the White House has issued an executive order designed to improve the security of classified networks and prevent further leaks.

The so-called “WikiLeaks Order” (.pdf) was issued by President Obama on Friday and largely focuses on establishing committees, offices and task forces to work on implementing a balance between the needs of federal agencies to access classified data and the necessity of securing that data against improper usage and leaks.

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More News On the White House Issuing An Executive Order Improving Cybersecurity

Obama tightens data security in wake of WikiLeaks -- AFP
White House issues order setting new cybersecurity safeguards as a response to WikiLeaks -- Washington Post/AP
White House order to establish new cybersecurity policies -- Washington Post
Obama to issue order on protecting secrets -- USA Today
After WikiLeaks, U.S. tries to shield classified data -- Chicago Tribune/Reuters
White House Orders New Computer Security Rules -- New York Times
Obama To Issue Executive Order On Classified Info, After WikiLeaks -- National Journal

Are Foreign-Made Components Threatening Our Cyber Security?

A top official from the Department of Homeland Security said for the first time Thursday that some foreign-made computer components are being manufactured with cyber attacks in mind. (Caroline Purser/Photographer's Choice/Getty Images)

U.S. Suspects Contaminated Foreign-Made Components Threaten Cyber Security -- ABC News

Some foreign-made computer components are being manufactured to make it easier to launch cyber attacks on U.S. companies and consumers, a security official at the the Department of Homeland Security said.

"I am aware of instances where that has happened," said Greg Schaffer, who is the Acting Deputy Undersecretary National Protection and Programs Director at the DHS.

Schaffer did not say where specifically these components are coming from or elaborate on how they could be manufactured in such a way as to facilitate a cyber attack.

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My Comment: I want more details ind information .... unfortunately .... the government is unwilling to name names.

The Stuxnet Worm Is A Game Changer For Global Cybersecuirty

Stuxnet's Target System Symantec researchers have figured out that Stuxnet attacks a specific kind of system, changing the frequency output of the converters and altering the speeds of the motors or processes controlled by the system. Symantec

Stuxnet Worm Is A "Game Changer" For Global Cybersecurity, Top U.S. Official Tells Senate -- Popular Science

The Stuxnet worm has generated plenty of commentary from computer industry experts and security pundits, but yesterday the U.S. government’s senior cybersecurity expert at the Department of Homeland Security weighed in, calling the malicious program a “game changer” in cyber warfare. The head of the DHS’s Cybersecurity Center, Sean McGurk, made the statement to the Senate Homeland Security Committee Wednesday.

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A Brief Analysis On The New Cybersecurity Bill

Are We Ready For A Cyber-Pearl Harbor? -- James Carafano, Washington Examiner

Somebody in the Pentagon had an idea. "Let's take down the Internet."

In 1997, the Department of Defense led an exercise called Eligible Receiver. A team of cyber-experts was given three months to plan and execute an attack on unclassified computer systems using commonly available hardware and software. The red team came from a not-to-be-named shadowy agency -- but we know it was the National Security Agency.

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My Comment: A brief but sobering analysis on the pros and cons of a cybersecurity bill that is now making its way through Congress.