Archive for July, 2016
Comey: Conversations about encryption issue still needed
Jul 28th
From: Houston Chronicle
Bree Fowler, AP Technology Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — FBI Director James Comey said government and the tech industry need to sort out their differences over encryption before “something terrible happens” that would make productive conversations impossible.
Acknowledging that talks will probably have to wait until after a new president takes office next year, Comey said that it’s up to the American people — not the FBI or the tech companies — to decide how to resolve the issue. But before making that decision, people need to understand the cost of absolute privacy.
No, the White House Did Not Create a Color Coded Alert System for Cyber
Jul 27th
From: Council on Foreign Relations
by Robert Knake
Yesterday, the White House released a new policy document on the management of cyber incident response. The document, Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 41, captures over a decade of lessons learned on how federal agencies respond to cyber incidents. It is clear about what federal agencies will do (as well as what they will not do) and sets up a series of mechanisms for coordinating federal action with private companies.
It fixes long-standing problems in Federal response policy, formalizing the “bubble chart” and creating unified coordination groups to coordinate with private entities and state and local governments based on what works for responding to real world disasters.
Crypto-heist threatens to tank blockchain-based future
Jul 26th
From: ExtremeTech
The DAO stands for the “Distributed Autonomous Organization,” and while that could very well refer to anything from a blockchain car-share app to a hive of honey bees, this rather boring title stands for something truly remarkable: the first unmanned investment portfolio. It is a proof of concept for what many believe will be the future of finance, with software organizing and overseeing an investment strategy developed through semi-democratic input from the collected investors. It’s secured by the much-ballyhooed Ethereum platform, using a cryptocurrency called Ether as its trading currency, and at first everything seemed to be proceeding according to plan. It was a confirmation of the promise of the blockchain, and proof that the future really is near at hand!
What if no one is ready for self-driving vehicles?
Jul 22nd
From: Fleet Owner
by Sean Kilcarr in Trucks at Work
My good friend and colleague Kevin Jones – editor of Fleet Owner’s brother publication, American Trucker magazine – penned an insightful blog post the other day, musing about the potential pushback against autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the wake of Tesla’s notorious autopilot failure back in May that killed a driver who literally wasn’t driving his self-guided vehicle when it slammed into (of all things) a tractor-trailer.
It’s interesting to also note that vehicle safety regulators are bluntly stating that this incident is not going to slow down their efforts to make AVs an everyday driving reality.
Regulating blockchain: the Israeli block in the chain
Jul 21st
From: Lexology
Special Counsel Roy Keidar, Yigal Arnon & Co examines the emergence of Blockchain in Israel, with the assistance of Ahuva Goldstand
Bitcoin, the first truly decentralized virtual currency, emerged onto the financial markets in 2009. Its origins and the enigmatic Satoshi Nakomoto remain shrouded in mystery. What is undeni- able, however, is that Bitcoin has garnered worldwide attention and appreciated in value to about 500 euros per bitcoin today. Reception of Bitcoin by the general public, government authorities, and financial institutions has fluctuated between indifference, confusion, and recently, growing interest, although the predominant mainstream approach is still one of skepticism. Yet even Bitcoin’s greatest critics have come to recognize and appreci- ate what many argue is Bitcoin’s key innovation: Blockchain, the underlying technology on which Bitcoin is based. This is why the recent June 2016 resolution adopted by the European Parliament, a fairly conservative institution, to take a “hands-off” approach to the regulation of the Blockchain may signal a significant about- face in the approach towards Blockchain and VCs.
Army updates and renames cyber electromagnetic activity regulation
Jul 20th
From: C4ISRNET
Among several recent developments bringing Army cyber and electromagnetic activities closer together, the service updated and renamed one of its regulations related to supporting the integrated multi-mission nature of cyber electromagnetic activities through software-based systems.
Army Regulation 525-15, titled “Software Reprogramming for Cyber Electromagnetic Activities,” provides a raft of changes such as expanding the scope of software reprogramming to support CEMA, adds responsibilities for headquarter commands and direct reporting units to support electronic warfare reprogramming mission requirements, and establishes CEMA software reprogramming integrations and interoperability implementation strategy, the Army said.
Why the FDIC Is Updating Its Cyber Security Policy After This Data Breach
Jul 15th
From: Fortune
by Reuters
A congressional committee criticized the FDIC’s handling of more recent data breaches.
The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is updating cyber security policies after a 2015 data breach in which a former employee kept copies of sensitive information on how banks would handle bankruptcy, the regulator’s chief said on Thursday.
FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg also said he made personnel changes after receiving a report in 2013 informing him that he had not been fully briefed about the major compromise of the regulator’s computers by a foreign government in 2010 and 2011.
Chinese government likely hacked FDIC: report
Jul 14th
Editor’s Note: And yet the FCC still seems determined to invite China into America’s living rooms, see here.
From: The Hill
By Katie Bo Williams
The Chinese government likely hacked several high-level officials at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as recently as 2013, according to a congressional report released Wednesday.
Advanced persistent threat actors believed to have been the Chinese government compromised 12 agency work stations in 2010, 2011 and 2013, according to an internal FDIC report cited by the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
Main issues involved in the EU’s cybersecurity agenda
Jul 12th
From: The Baltic Course
Eugene Eteris, European Studies Faculty, RSU
Three main issues are combined in the modern EU cybersecurity agenda: stepping up cooperation among EU states, creating European cybersecurity single market and cybersecurity public private partnership. Commission clarified EU cybersecurity issues concerning all member states for a long-term period.
Impact of cybersecurity incidents could cause major economic damage of hundreds of billions of euros each year to European businesses and the economy at large. Such incidents undermine trust in the digital society as well. Theft of commercial trade secrets, business information and personal data breaches, disruption of services and of infrastructure result in economic losses of hundreds of billions of euros each year.
Intrigue, nastiness engulfs latest protest of DHS’ $1B cyber contract
Jul 11th
From: FederalNewsRadio.com 1500 AM
By Jason Miller | @jmillerWFED
Let’s add a little intrigue and nastiness to the already exciting saga of the $1.15 billion cybersecurity contract the Homeland Security Department has been trying to award for the last 10 months.
First the news: Northrop Grumman has submitted a second protest to the Government Accountability Office over DHS’ decision to award the DOMino contract to Raytheon.