Cyber Warfare: Should We Be On The Offensive?

The world needs a treaty to prevent cyber attacks becoming an all-out war, the head of the main UN communications and technology agency warned Saturday.

“A cyber war would be worse than a tsunami — a catastrophe,” the UN official said, highlighting examples such as attacks on Estonia last year

Read Full Post »

The US Cyber Challenge Wants You

As part of the administrations continuing efforts to actually do something tangible to improve the security posture of US critical infrastructure and to better deal with a severe lack of technical talent the CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) announced the US Cyber Challenge (here) to identify and develop 10,000 cyber security specialists.

One of the fundamental deficiencies of the current US critical infrastructure protection programs (there are many of them), is the astonishing lack of qualified technical security specialists. This program aims to develop the next generation of technically advanced cyber warriors and security specialists.

The United States Cyber Challenge

The US Cyber Challenge is a national talent search and skills development program. Its purpose is to find 10,000 young Americans with the interest and skills to fill the ranks of cyber security practitioners, researchers and warriors. Some will, we hope, become the top guns in cyber security. The program will nurture and develop their skills, and enable them to get access to advanced education and exercises, and where appropriate, enable them to be recognized by employers where their skills can be of the greatest value to their nation.

Improving our private and public sector security posture will be an ongoing process as we adopt new technology innovations and as the dynamic global environment shifts between hostile and friendly actors. Recruiting the next generation of technically advanced security specialists and developing the skills today to deal with tomorrows threats is key to ensuring we have a population of talent to enable continued growth and prosperity of the United States and its citizens. Like so many times in our history, the hopes of an aging nation rest on the shoulders of America’s youth.

Read Full Post »

The Whitehouse Releases 60 Day Cyber Security Review

Early after President Obama was nominated I wrote an open letter to President Obama for actions that I believed the administration would need to take in the first 90-days “Open Letter to Barack Obama: Securing Critical Infrastructure – The First 90 Days” These included a policy review and some suggestions on methods the administration would need to implement to secure our digital infrastructure. President Obama appointed Melissa Hathaway to lead the review, which has now been completed.

Read Full Post »

The Top 5 Cyber Security Myths

Given the media hype around the Conficker worm (and now Gumblar), and the constant barrage of alarming disclosure announcements, I thought it would be a good time to take a calmer look at some of the security myths, misconceptions and mistruths that plague the industry.

Many of these cyber security myths have been around for close to a decade. They have driven marketing campaigns and have sold a lot of traditional newspapers. But for the most part these threats have proven much less dangerous than ballyhooed. Worse, they distract us from addressing the routine problems that lead to a more secure global IT environment. Until we can address every day vulnerabilities threats, how can we justify focusing on exotic edge cases?

Read Full Post »

Open Letter to Barack Obama: Securing Critical Infrastructure – The First 90 Days

Dear President Obama,

As America enters a new era that has already begun to reflect the leadership, the change, and the hope of your presidential campaign, it is imperative that we take this opportunity to implement a vision for how the United States and the world will securely and efficiently maximize the value of technology for the betterment of all.

Read Full Post »