There’s been a lot of light and heat in the last week when it comes to the U.S. government and cyber security. After all, President Obama just released his Executive Order on cyber security, which puts an emphasis on identifying and protecting critical infrastructure and, just maybe, pushes the sprawling federal bureaucracy towards better security practices. But a just-released report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) makes clear that, in the big scheme of things, the Executive Order is just window dressing on the mess that is the Federal Government’s handling of cyber security. The report, GAO-13-187 (PDF), is a round-up and updating of previous reports that studied aspects of federal cyber security as they affect a wide range of federal agencies. The GAO’s conclusion? Uncle Sam has made negligible progress towards improving the security of its information systems, and has little to show in key areas such as responding to […]
Search Results for "Department of Homeland Security"
Obama CyberSecurity Order Puts Infrastructure Owners On Notice
President Barack Obama issued a long-anticipated Executive Order for improving the nation’s cyber security late Tuesday. The Order, released on the same evening as President Obama addressed both chambers of Congress with his State of the Union Address called cyber attacks “one of the most serious national security challenges we must confront,” and put public and private owners of critical infrastructure in the U.S. on notice that they would need to work closely with the government to reduce the risk of crippling cyber attacks. President Obama issued the Order after Congress failed, in its last session, to agree on comprehensive cyber security legislation. Negotiations over the bill broke down over Republican amendments to a Democratic sponsored bill and concerns from the business community about the cost of complying with some of the more controversial provisions. Among those: a requirement that the Department of Homeland Security be able to audit […]
Update: DHS Looking Into Cyber Risk from TCL Smart TVs
The acting head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the agency was assessing the cyber risk of smart TVs sold by the Chinese electronics giant TCL, following reports that the devices may give the company “back door” access to deployed sets.
Episode 174: GE’s Very Bad Day – Unpacking the MDHex Vulnerabilities
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned of critical vulnerabilities in a range of products by GE. We speak with Elad Luz, the head of research at CyberMDX, which discovered the holes.
DHS Warns That Drones Made in China Could Steal U.S. Data
The Department of Homeland Security is warning U.S. firms that drones made in China may be spying on them and sending sensitive data to the Chinese government.
