TechAmerica Praises Obama’s Cyber Czar

By Rachel St. Amant- Talk Radio News Service

TechAmerica held a media briefing in which they announced their collaboration with the government on the 60 day cyber security project which will create cyber security office.

The association of leading technology companies came out in support of President Barack Obama’s plan to tie public and private institutions together in the hopes of enhancing cyber security.

“The President came out and visibly made his commitment to this effort,” said Enrique Salem, CEO of Symantec.

President Obama said “We need to develop new standards for the cyber-security that protects our most important infrastructures, from electrical grids to sewage systems, from air traffic control to our markets."

John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, said “The national security and economic health of the United States depend on the security, stability and integrity of our nation's cyberspace, both in the public and private sectors."

“We clearly articulated what the risk are, what the threats are,” Salem said.

Phil Dunkelberger, CEO of PGP Corporation agreed, saying “I thought it was important that he (President Obama) linked cyber security to the future of the U.S.”

TechAmerica also affirmed its satisfaction for the new cyber security office regarding the security it will provide to small businesses and individuals.

Dunkelberger argued that “Those (security) rights should be encouraged and that is what the government does.”

On the new collaboration between the public and the private sectors Harriet Pearson said “The relationship that the administration is building is going to be key.”

Despite the efforts of the previous administration to address this topic, TechAmerica seems more enthusiastic about Obama’s plan.

Phil Bond said “ What makes it a fundamental shift is the personal commitment taken by the president”, adding that “He is putting a lot of chips on the table, politically.”

However, Salem warned that “I think its important that we do not let it get caught up in the bureaucracy.”

Today at TRNS

Talk Radio News Washington Bureau will be covering the following events:
- Address by Education Secretary Arne Duncan on education reform and his
agency's role in President Obama's economic stimulus efforts.
-"Administration's 60-Day Review of Federal Cyber
Security Program."
-Discussion on "Toward Universal Broadband: Developing a National
Broadband Strategy."

Cyber Security and the “financial meltdown”

“We are experiencing a financial meltdown due to a fundamental misunderstanding and mismanagement of modern financial systems, which is generating a crisis of confidence in our core institutions. Today, all our critical infrastructures are reliant on cyber systems that are also misunderstood and mismanaged. These vulnerabilities place both our financial and physical security in jeopardy unless we update the method we use to control our cyber systems,” said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance (ISA).

The ISA and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) released today a new action guide for top financial advisers at companies around the country on the analysis, management and transfer of financial risk related to cyber attack. Two thousand copies of the action guide are now on their way to executives around the nation, and electronic copies are available for free download at http://webstore.ansi.org/cybersecurity.

Ty Sagalow of the American International Group said “up to $3 trillion a day moves over the internet. And the main protocol to protect this data is over 30 years old. Some estimate that the total cost of a data breach grew to $197 per record in 2007. And the privacy rights clearing house has identified more than two hundred and thirty million records of U.S. residences that have been exposed due to security breaches since January 2005.”

Cyber Security is the protection of any corporate system, computer system, or software program against any kind of unauthorized disclosure, transfer, modification, or disruption, whether it is internal, external, accidental, purposeful, for criminal or terrorist purposes, or the result of negligence.

Security in a Cyber World

The Internet has evolved into a tool of war.

"The Georgia-Russian conflict, perhaps, that is the first instance of a military action containing a clear cyber component. Denial-of-service attacks were launched by Russia against Georgia," said Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Paul A. Schneider during a forum on the nation's cyber security posture.

"There were large swaths of Georgians that could not access any information about what was happening in their country. Government websites were defaced and the delivery of government information was seriously curtailed".

To meet high-tech threats such as these the DHS has rolled out a series of safety measures called the Cyber Initiative, with the goal of strengthening the security of both federal and private sector networks, operating and defending in real time, and expanding counter intelligence capabilities against foreign governments.

"Intelligence is one of our best preventative tools. I don't have to go into any detail, you all know the examples...up through World War II with the use of radar. We need to have similar types of tools in order to make better use of intelligence in the cyber domain in order to stop our adversaries before they can launch attacks against us,' said Schneider.

Another important aspect of the initiative is to create a more centralized manner of dealing with cyber threats. The National Security Cyber Center has been recently created to coordinate protection across the federal networks, including the .mil and .gov domains.

Schneider addressed concerns that the initiative could violate the privacy of citizens.

"If someone is seeking to access our systems and possibly inject some sort of malware it is perfectly within our right to take a closer look and see whether that code poses a threat, just as you would ask a few questions from a stranger who would want to enter your house."