The Department of Homeland Security to Hire 140 Cybersecurity Experts
The Department of Homeland Security is planning to increase its cyber-security workforce to 400 members by adding an additional 140 members by 2012. Phillip Reitinger, deputy undersecretary of the DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate, stated, “we plan to hire 140 additional cybersecurity experts by October 2012 bringing the agency’s total to 400.”
This is in part to President Obama’s recently proposed cybersecurity plan earlier this month. In the plan, the Obama administration released a cybersecurity legislative agenda that assigned the Department of Homeland Security as the lead agency in protecting federal agencies and the critical IT infrastructure.
This also follows a strategic agenda the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano made over year ago when she stated, “Cyber-security is one of our most urgent priorities” and announced that The Department of Homeland Security plans hire up to 1,000 cyber-security experts in the next three years to help protect U.S. computer networks.
Many IT security experts have expressed the United States is vulnerable to a massive cyber-attack due to our reliance and dependence on the Internet; and industries such as healthcare, transportation, telecommunications, financial and energy to name a few are currently open targets.
This announcement presents is a great opportunity for African Americans per a recent study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce that was presented on a recent Black Enterprise web posting titled, “10 Highest-Paying College Degrees for African Americans”. The study investigates the economic value of 171 college majors and then goes even deeper to provide a breakdown of the highest and lowest-paying degrees by sex and race.
In the Black Enterprise article, 7 of the 10 highest-paying college degrees were IT and engineering related such as Computer Science, Computer Network & Telecommunications and Information Science to name a few.
You can view career opportunities with DHS here.
Google’s Gmail Hacked by China Again
Google discovered Chinese hackers tried to steal the passwords of senior U.S. government officials as well as South Korean officials, Chinese activists and journalists this past Wednesday. There are also reports thousand of other email accounts were also targeted.
Google stated on their blog, “The hackers tried to use a phishing scheme to get the passwords of victims so they could monitor their email correspondence.” But Google security technicians were able to stop the hacking campaign and secure the accounts of those targeted expect for a Chinese human rights activist Cui Weiping whose email content were accessed; the FBI was notified of that matter.
This is the second time allegations of China hacking Google has come about. Back in January of 2010, a cyber-attack that allegedly originated from China occurred which prompted the National Security Agency to assist in the investigation.
In a statement, Google said, “Unlike a series of cyberattacks from China last year, the goal this time was not its own central systems, but the individual accounts of users.”
The Google hacking occurrence comes a day after the Pentagon declared cyber attack on U.S. interest from another country could constitute as an act of war. This may be due to the constant cyberattacks the U.S. government and private companies have been facing from countries like China and Russia to name a few.
SecurityOrb.com, an Information Security and Privacy awareness organization urge Gmail users to take safety precautions such as changing their password, using a strong password, and possibly even using Google’s two-step verification feature for Gmail. Furthermore, you can verify the location from where your Gmail account was accessed by checking the “last account activity” display at the bottom of the page.
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The White House Reveals its U.S. International Strategy for Cyberspace
The Obama Administration officially launched its international cybersecurity strategy in a White House event on Monday, May 16. The event was lead by Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan and Howard Schmidt, the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator. In addition, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, The Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn and Secretary Gary Locke of the Commerce Department participated as a unified sign of support.
Schmidt stated in his blog post, “The International Strategy is a historic policy document for the 21st Century — one that explains, for audiences at home and abroad, what the U.S. stands for internationally in cyberspace, and how we plan to build prosperity, enhance security, and safeguard openness in our increasingly networked world.”
This strategy depicts the goals of the Obama Administration to promote an open, interoperable, secure and reliable information and communications infrastructure that supports global commerce as well as strengthen international security, online freedom and innovation.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated, “There is no one-size-fits all, straight-forward-route to that goal,” she further stated, “We have to build a global consensus around a shared vision to the future of cyberspace, to make sure it serves rather than impedes the social, economic and political aspirations of people worldwide.”
Clinton also shared seven key principles of the international strategic plan which consisted of economic engagement, protecting networks, law enforcement, military cooperation, multi-stakeholder Internet governance, international development and referencing to Internet freedom as the most important of all. Internet freedom is sure to be a major issue with some countries such as China, classifying the Internet as a national security entity and in some countries in North Africa and the Middle East from their practices during the recent uprising.
This plan marks the first time a single document has been presented to the public, representing the U.S. government’s position for cyberspace, which embraces defense, diplomacy and international development. It is a major demonstration of President Obama’s commitment to securing our digital infrastructure stemming from a statement he conveyed two years ago when he declared, “We will ensure that these networks are secure, trustworthy and resilient.”
Deputy Secretary of Defense Lynn stated, “As the President’s strategy makes clear, the challenges we face in cyberspace are not amenable to narrow solutions. No single agency can tackle the required issues. No one nation can devise or enforce a sustainable solution.” He further added, “The challenge even extends beyond what governments can achieve alone. The private sector, both here and around the world, must be part of the solution. The international cyber strategy laid out by President Obama recognizes this complexity and the broad approach we must pursue to realize the revolutionary benefits of network technology.”
The publication of the U.S. International Strategy for Cyberspace is a monumental occurrence that should set in motion real dialog among nations to work together towards achieving a common objective on protecting commerce, individuals and ideas on the Internet.
You can read the full strategy and a fact sheet on the strategy on WhiteHouse.gov.
Earlier this week, the Obama administration released a cybersecurity legislative agenda that assigned the Department of Homeland Security as the lead agency in protecting federal agencies and the critical IT infrastructure.
Facebook, Google and Apple Appear before Senate Subcommittee on Mobile Device Location Privacy Issues
On May 19, Facebook, Google and Apple appeared before a Senate subcommittee on Capitol Hill lead by Senator John Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, and Senator John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, to discuss claims they are not adequately safeguarding their customers’ location privacy on mobile devices.
This stems from an investigation by security researchers and the Wall Street Journal disclosing that these companies are tracking customers’ locations without their knowledge on cell phones and other mobile devices, such as the iPad and comparable devices on the market. The investigation by the Wall Street journal also revealed that about 50% of the 101 top mobile iPhone and Android apps gave out the location of the user without their consent.
Rockefeller, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation stated, “I think anyone who uses a mobile device has an expectation of privacy, and sadly that expectation is not always being met.”
At the hearing, both Senators called on Congress to pass new laws to protect smartphone customers from having their locations tracked. The bill would focus on Internet privacy giving customers more control over their data, as well as providing specific guidelines to protect consumers in an unregulated mobile app industry.
Kerry stated, “New rules protecting privacy on smartphones and on the Internet will create stronger consumer confidence in those industries.”
Strangely enough, a similar hearing conducted on May 10 by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law by Chairman Al Franken, D-Minnesota, looked into the same issue of location and information privacy on mobile devices. Franken stated, “These breaches of privacy can have real consequences for real people.” He later stated, “I’ve realized that our federal laws do far too little to protect this information. Prosecutors bringing cases under the federal anti-hacking law often rely on breaches of privacy policies to make their case. But many mobile apps don’t have privacy policies. And some policies are so long and complicated that they’re almost universally dismissed without being read.”
Information privacy while on the Internet has always been and continues to be a large issue in the U.S. The recent popularity of smartphone apps has added to the complexity of the problem. Unfortunately, there isn’t much consumers can do at this time besides refraining from using some of these popular apps that are infringing on our privacy.
Does the convenience of mobile applications justify the sacrifice of our privacy?
FCC, FTC to Hold Forum on Cell Phones Tracking Users
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plan a public forum next month on privacy concerns about cell phones and their ability to track the location of users.
The June 28 forum will include recommended best practices individuals can use to guard their privacy.
Google, Facebook and Apple are among the key participants in the FCC-FTC joint forum. Representatives from the telecommunications and technology industry also will participate, as well as various consumer and privacy advocacy groups and members from academia.
Discussion topics will include:
- How location-based services work.
- Benefits and risks.
- Consumer DOs and DON’Ts.
- Industry best practices.
- What parents should know about location tracking.
- when their children use mobile devices.
The forum will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT at the FCC Headquarters, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington DC 20554.
The joint forum may be a response by the FCC and FTC to two separate senate subcommittee hearings held earlier this month by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.
Those hearings came about due to an investigation by security researchers and the Wall Street Journal that found Google’s Android devices, Apple’s iPhones and other similar devices track customers’ locations without their knowledge. At the hearing, senators called on Congress to pass new laws to protect smartphone users from having their locations tracked without their consent.
In bringing awareness to this issue, the federal government is making a statement about the need to preserve some level of privacy in the digital age. Concern over security and privacy is growing as the Internet and mobile devices play larger and larger roles in our work and play.
African-Americans and Latinos may be most at risk, due to their increasing use of smartphones. According to a study by Pew Internet, part of the Pew Research Center, “African-Americans and English-speaking Latinos continue to be among the most active users of the mobile Web.” The study found African-Americans and Latinos are more likely to own cell phones, compared to white Americans, and they are more likely to use more features, such as Internet access.
People often see security and privacy as synonymous, though actually they are distinct. Information security means protecting information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification or destruction. Information privacy is a claim by individuals that data about themselves should not be automatically available to others.
If you are interested in filing comments for the forum, you can use the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System via the Internet at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Individuals may also submit electronic comments by e-mail.
To get filing instructions for e-mail comments, send an e-mail to ecfs@fcc.gov, and include the following words in the body of the message, “get form.” A sample form and directions will be sent in an e-mail reply.
