News, analysis and context on enterprise technology for the CTO
While Alex has dealt rather masterfully with the consequences of the trumped-up Russian SCADA hacking incident, I'd like to point to a different aspect of it: the cybersecurity "wake up call." The Springfield incident was immediately called a "wake up call" for cybersecurity practitioners. Of course, we now know that it was not a cyber attack. But suppose , for the sake of argument, that it really was the work of nefarious Russians. That would be a real … [Read more...]
Cyberspace is interconnected technology. It is everywhere. It is an ecosystem with many stakeholders and literally billions of actors. The rise of Cyberspace as a capability has already changed us in many ways, and for years it has been having an impact on the nation's strategy. Now, after some great staffing and planning by some of the sharpest minds in our nation and after coordination with allies, industry, academia and scores of thought leaders, a … [Read more...]
On 12 May 2011 the Obama Administration unveiled its cybersecurity legislative proposal. The entire proposal is available for your review at this link: cybersecurity legislative proposal. But I most strongly recommend you read the context provided by the government's Cybersecurity Coordinator and Special Assistant to the President Howard Schmidt first. Howard provided a clear introduction to this legislation that includes a framework that will make … [Read more...]
Last week, General Alexander (director of NSA and commander, USCYBERCOM) spoke at the RSA conference in San Francisco. He pointed out the the explosion of technology over the past 10 years. That users went from an average of 250MB of personal files, to over 128GB. The fact that 70% of Americans online are on Facebook - that 600M users worldwide are as well. This, mixed with the huge advances in programming (Watson and Deep Blue) lets us know that we do … [Read more...]
Technologists of all sort have been closely tracking events associated with cyber security, and most have been watching the many activities associated with White House efforts to enhance our ability to trust our digital infrastructure. In my view, technologists from academia, startups, IT providers, integrators and large enterprises (including the federal space) need to understand that security and functionality are not two different concepts. They are … [Read more...]
I enjoyed listening to the President today as he provided an update on where we are in our efforts to enhance our freedom of action in cyberspace. All the details are on the White House website and I hope you visit there yourself to download the 60-day cyberspace policy review. Details are here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/CyberReview/ I have been reading the report already-- and will also read all the papers and studies referenced there. So far I have … [Read more...]
Last week at the InfowarCon my friend Dan Kuehl handed me a copy of Cyberpower and National Security. Cyberwar has been a topic Dan has been exploring in some detail for quite a while. I first met Dan in 1996 when I was a student at the USMC Command and Staff College, and at that time Dan was already writing and exploring concepts related to cyber power and information warfare. His deep focus and insights into this still emerging mission area … [Read more...]
The Wall Street Journal just ran an article titled: "New Military Command to Focus on Cybersecurity." In it they indicate "current and former officials familiar with the plans" say a new military command will be established to coordinate the defense of Pentagon computer networks and improve US offensive capabilities in cyberwar. WSJ also reports that Defense Secretary Gates plans to announce the creation of a new military cyber command after the … [Read more...]