cybersecurity

WASHINGTON--Echoing recent comments from government and industry representatives, a former FBI chief on Thursday said the intelligence community would be the wrong place to put complete responsibility for cybersecurity.

Louis Freeh, who served as FBI director from 1993 to 2001, told audiences at the FOSE 2009 conference here that when the director of the Homeland Security Department's National Cyber Security Center resigned last week, he tapped into a strong historical resistance in the United States to centralized power, particularly in intelligence and military units. In his resignation letter, Rod Beckström said he opposes what he perceives as … Read more

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Wednesday she is naming a Microsoft executive to be in charge of protecting the U.S. government's computing systems.

Napolitano has appointed Philip Reitinger to be deputy undersecretary for the department's National Protection and Programs Directorate, where he will be responsible for protecting federal computing systems from domestic and foreign threats. Reitinger currently serves as Chief Trustworthy Infrastructure Strategist at Microsoft.

"Phil's background in cybersecurity and computer crime coupled with his experience working across the federal government and the private sector to develop innovative security strategies makes him … Read more

It's easy to criticize government failures. But as the U.S. Congress is learning in the case of the executive branch's cybersecurity efforts, fixing problems and crafting improvements is a little more difficult.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity arm has been under fire practically since its inception, flunking tests by outside auditors and receiving letter grades of "F" from congressional overseers. That invited speculation last year about whether the National Security Agency or the White House should take over responsibility for cybersecurity tasks.

Both ideas met with a lukewarm reception during a … Read more

A top federal cybersecurity official resigned this week in a letter sharply critical of what he described as a power grab by the National Security Agency.

Rod Beckström, director of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Center, said in his letter that NSA "effectively controls DHS cyber efforts through detailees, technology insertions," and has proposed moving some functions to the agency's Fort Meade, Md., headquarters.

Beckström was picked for the job in March 2008 and reported to DHS secretaries Michael Chertoff and Janet Napolitano. His letter also took aim at DHS, saying the center &… Read more

As the financial meltdown continues, there has still been plenty of attention on cybersecurity within the Beltway. Note these three events last week in Washington.

Budget increases. President Obama's proposed 2010 budget includes $42.7 billion for the Department of Homeland Security with cybersecurity spending included in this sum. Additionally, the budget allocates $355 million to the National Cyber Security Division. There are a few additional items that affect cybersecurity.

A new cybersecurity report. A new report from Dartmouth College's Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P) was delivered to U.S. Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (… Read more

Today's headlines from CNET News: Sir Howard Stringer adds to his titles of chairman and CEO; NTT DoCoMo says there's a problem with BlackBerrys it's selling in Japan; Android developers stage mini-revolt; Obama's budget includes money for criticized cybersecurity projects; and more.

Today's stories:

Sony's Stringer consolidates power

BlackBerry Bold sales suspended in Japan

Bleak week for memory chipmakers

Obama's budget blueprint enhances cybersecurity

Paid Android apps blocked on developer phones

Do tech hopefuls still need Demo?

Eager hordes flock to Google's Twitter account

President Obama's proposed 2010 budget includes hundreds of millions of dollars for the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity division, programs that have faced significant criticism over the past year.

The budget includes $355 million to support the base operations of the National Cyber Security Division and the efforts of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. The money will largely be used to secure the nation's public and private information networks, although $36 million will support ongoing projects to improve surveillance technologies that detect advanced biological threats.

The DHS cybersecurity initiatives have been criticized for poor leadership and for … Read more

U.S. officials are investigating the disappearance of 67 computers from the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab in New Mexico, according to a nonprofit group that exposes government misconduct.

Of the missing computers, 13 were lost or stolen in the past year, including 3 taken from a scientist's home last month. A BlackBerry belonging to another worker was lost in a "sensitive foreign country," according to an internal Los Alamos Lab e-mail posted online by the Project On Government Oversight.

The group also posted a letter from the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration rebuking the … Read more

In a move that could reshape the federal government's cybersecurity efforts, President Obama on Monday said a former Booz Allen consultant would conduct an immediate two-month review of all related agency activities.

The announcement indicates that the White House's National Security Council may wrest significant authority away from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which weathered withering criticism last fall for its lackluster efforts.

Obama selected Melissa Hathaway, who worked for the director of national intelligence in the Bush administration and was director of an multi-agency "Cyber Task Force," to conduct the review with an … Read more