Incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Thursday that the soon to be Democratic-controlled House could finalize legislation to strengthen election security by the end of January. […]
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations today released a report identifying core strategies to address and prevent cybersecurity incidents. After gathering input through hearings, briefings, reports, and roundtables, the subcommittee developed six specific priorities to create stronger protections against cyberattacks. […]
The Senate Rules & Administration Committee yesterday advanced two of President Trump’s nominations to the Election Assistance Committee. […]
Rod Turk, the Commerce Department’s acting CIO who will be retiring next month, said in a wide-ranging discussion today that the Federal government is approaching the “tipping point” in its IT modernization efforts, and that requirements put in place in recent years to strengthen the hand of Federal CIOs in pushing modernization are resulting in less “rogue” tech projects at agencies. […]
President Trump today signed S. 140, the “Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018,” into the law. […]
Quora, a popular Q&A website, announced Monday that it was the victim of a data breach which exposed 100 million users’ data, including account information and private messages. […]
Jon Callas has left his post as a senior security expert at Apple to become a technology fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), according to a report from Reuters. […]
Further development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has the potential to tip the scales in cybersecurity in favor of the defender, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Bradford Shwedo, director for Command, Control, Communications and Computers/Cyber, and CIO for Joint Chiefs of Staff, today at an event organized by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). […]
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace announced Monday a $2 million two-year grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for its Cyber Policy Initiative. […]
The Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace–a global cyber pact introduced last month at the Paris Peace Forum by French President Emmanuel Macron–now has more than 420 signatories, including countries, companies, and non-profit organizations and advocacy groups. […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on Monday released NISTIR 8196, its draft report on the cybersecurity of mobile devices and wearables for first responders, and is seeking comment on the draft until January 7. […]
President Trump said over the weekend that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping plan to discuss cybersecurity and intellectual property issues during the 90-period in which President Trump said he will not institute further tariff increases on Chinese goods entering the United States. […]
The Federal government will close on Wednesday for a national day of mourning declared by President Trump following the death of former President George H.W. Bush, whose funeral will be held that day at the Washington National Cathedral. […]
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, on Friday introduced the Global Electoral Exchange Act, which would task the State Department with creating an international election security information sharing program. […]
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein voiced a forceful argument on Thursday for tech device and service makers to build into their products the means for law enforcement to legally access decrypted content, but offered little that was new in the way of solutions to the problem which the Federal government has complained about for years. […]
Today is Joshua Moses’ last day with the Office of Management and Budget. Moses, who is the chief of cybersecurity for the Office of the Federal CIO, has been with OMB since July 2015. […]
The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has affirmed a previous decision by a Federal district court that leaves in place a Federal government ban on using products provided by Moscow-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Labs. […]
The Internet Association announced today that it hired Elizabeth Banker as VP and associate general counsel, and Alla Seiffert as cloud policy director and counsel. […]
In what may qualify as the second largest data breach ever, Marriott announced today that up to 500 million guests at the company’s Starwood Group hotels have had their personal data stolen. […]
When it comes to eliminating botnets, Jeanette Manfra, assistant director for Cybersecurity for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, stressed the importance of thinking differently and considering new solutions at the unveiling the 2018 International Anti-Botnet Guide today. […]
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is thanking the Senate Rules Committee for its work to improve the Senate’s cybersecurity posture by moving to begin encrypting data stored on Senate computers. […]
Dell said on Nov. 28 that it “detected and disrupted” unauthorized activity on its network on Nov. 9 that aimed to steal Dell.com customer information including names, email addresses, and hashed passwords, but not credit card or other sensitive data. Dell said “it is possible” that some data was stolen, but that “our investigations found no conclusive evidence that any was extracted.” Dell said its security measures in place–including hashing of customer passwords and a mandatory Dell.com password reset–are in place to limit the impact of any potential data disclosure. The company also said it has hired an digital forensics firm to conduct an independent investigate, and also has “engage law enforcement.” […]
More than 200 Google engineering, research, and project management employees have signed a petition calling on the company to cancel its Dragonfly project, which the employees said aims to create a “censored search engine for the Chinese market that enables state surveillance.” […]
The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it fined ride-sharing provider Uber 385,000 pounds (U.S. $490,000) for failing to take adequate steps to protect the personal data of its customers during a cyberattack suffered by the company in 2016. […]
In an Inspector General (IG) report released Nov. 20, the Department of the Interior got taken to task for allowing an employee to visit 9,000 pornographic websites in under seven months. This is the IG second report chastising the department for an employee viewing porn on agency time and technology. […]
The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), meeting last week to consider data protection issues broadly, discussed the importance of protecting digital information and privacy in an era of increasing global terrorism and cybercrime. […]
The U.S. Postal Services (USPS) has fixed a security flaw within its Informed Delivery service that was allowing criminals to perpetrate a multitude of identity theft and credit card fraud schemes. […]
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Tuesday her intention to restore the Elections Subcommittee of the Committee on House Administration, which was created during the 110th Congress but abolished in 2013. Pelosi, who will likely be elected House majority leader when Democrats take control of the House in January, also announced that Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, will serve as chairwoman of the subcommittee. […]
With November being National Critical Infrastructure Security and Resiliency Month, cyberattacks on electricity providers like the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are being brought into focus, and a new report from TVA’s Inspector General raises some concerns about the organization’s ability to deal with potential ransomware attacks. […]
Federal agencies are using the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework to manage their agencies’ cybersecurity risk, a year after the White House issued an executive order directing the heads of executive agencies and departments to use the NIST framework, according to an agency official. […]