Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. House Hearing: U.S. in 'Dangerous' Cyber Security State

Angela Moscaritolo writes on SC Magazine US:

Public and private cybersecurity experts, in a hearing before Congress on Tuesday, discussed goals and challenges of federal government cybersecurity initiatives going forward.

During the hearing before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, Science and Technology, witnesses discussed goals for the 60-day review of federal government cybersecurity initiatives ordered last month by President Obama. The review is underway, being overseen by former Bush aide, Melissa Hathaway. [SC Magazine erroneously reported on Monday that she was scheduled to present an update on the review's status to the committee.]

“We find ourselves in an extremely dangerous situation today – too many vulnerabilities exist on too many critical networks, which are exposed to too many skilled attackers who can inflict too many damages to our systems,” said Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., who chairs the subcommittee, during opening statements. “Unfortunately, to this day, too few people are even aware of these dangers, and fewer still are doing anything about it.”

Amit Yoran, chairman and CEO at cyberintelligence firm NetWitness, who was among the witnesses that testified at Tuesday's hearing, said the federal cybersecurity mission needs improvement. Yoran said the White House must lead efforts, which should involve the intelligence community and the private sector.

posted by Fergie @ 3/11/2009 01:08:00 PM