U.S. Cyber Security Czar Quits Amid Fears of NSA Takeover
Noah Shachtman writes on Danger Room:
Rod Beckström, the Department of Homeland Security's controversial cybersecurity chief, has suddenly resigned amid allegations of power grabs and bureaucratic infighting.
Beckström — a management theorist, entrepreneur, and author — was named last year to head up the new National Cybersecurity Center. To some, it seemed an odd choice since Beckström isn't an expert in security. But the hope was that he could use his management skills to help coordinate the nation's often-dysfunctional network defenses.
Part of the Department of Homeland Security — for now, the government's lead agency for cyber protection — the Center was supposed to be the one place where the defense of civilian, military, and intelligence network could all be marshaled together.
At least, that was the idea. But the Center never had a chance to even start doing its job, Beckström complained in a resignation letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano that has been obtained by Danger Room. The Center "did not receive appropriate support" from the Department of Homeland Security to help coordinate network defenses, he said.
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U.S. Senator Asks DHS for Cyber Security Documents
Stephanie Condon writes on C|Net News:
The top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee is requesting detailed information, including financial figures, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to explain why the department has been seemingly unable to fulfill its cybersecurity responsibilities.
In a letter sent to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said that in light of the recent resignation of National Cybersecurity Center Director Rod Beckström, she would like DHS to send the Homeland Security Committee a number of documents to show how the department spent its $6 million NCSC budget and provided other means of support for the NCSC.
In a resignation letter turned in earlier this month, Beckström said, "the NCSC did not receive appropriate support inside DHS during the last administration to fully realize (its) vital role."
Collins said in her letter to Napolitano that she was very concerned by Beckström's assertion, especially given the authority the NCSC has been granted.
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Former FBI Director Calls for Decentralization of Cyber Security Responsibilities
Via H-Online.
Louis Freeh, formerly director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), says last week's resignation of Rod Beckström from his post as director of the US Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Center is symptomatic of a fundamental problem in the USA. In his keynote speech at the Federal Office Systems Exposition (FOSE) in Washington DC, he confirmed Beckströms impression that the NSA is grabbing too much power. Media reports say Freeh is calling for closer cooperation between government authorities and private companies.
Freeh said there are many cybersecurity experts in the FBI (of which Freeh was director from 1993 to 2001) and also in the NSA, but for better efficiency these institutions should serve rather as interfaces. He still sees some problems with cooperation between government authorities and private companies, quoting as one example the uncertainty of telecommunications companies about their responsibility for monitoring traffic on behalf of the NSA. He thinks the problems of security on civilian, military and intelligence networks are also too complex for a state organisation to resolve.
Beckström resigned last week, just a year after his appointment as director of the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), citing as one reason the NSA's grabbing too many powers, within the domain of cybersecurity, that should rightly be the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This, he warned, endangered the democratic process. He further complained that his area of responsibility had not been adequately financed.
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U.S. Cyber Security Shake Up Would Give White House More Control
John Leyden writes on The Register:
A bill that would see the White House take more involvement and control in leading US cybersecurity efforts has been tabled before Congress. The move follows recent criticism of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The latest DHS authorization bill [.pdf] turns the director of National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) into a presidential appointment. The bill, which allocates a budget of $30m to the DHS over the next financial year, also incorporates provisions for the NCSC director to report directly to the president on key strategies, such as securing the country's critical infrastructure from attack and inter-agency strategy.
Silicon Valley businessman Rod Beckström was appointed as the NCSC director by DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff back in March. Cybersecurity efforts at the DHS - which include running a computer emergency response team as well as the newly-created NCSC - are led on a day to day basis by under secretary Robert Jamison.
The provision of the bill will please critics of the DHS who have called for increased presidential involvement in directing US cybersecurity efforts, some of who have described the DHS as "rudderless".
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Schneier: Who Should be in Charge of U.S. Cybersecurity?
Bruce Schneier:
U.S. government cybersecurity is an insecure mess, and fixing it is going to take considerable attention and resources. Trying to make sense of this, President Barack Obama ordered a 60-day review of government cybersecurity initiatives. Meanwhile, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, Science and Technology is holding hearings on the same topic.
One of the areas of contention is who should be in charge. The FBI, DHS and DoD -- specifically, the NSA -- all have interests here. Earlier this month, Rod Beckström resigned from his position as director of the DHS's National Cybersecurity Center, warning of a power grab by the NSA.
Putting national cybersecurity in the hands of the NSA is an incredibly bad idea. An entire parade of people, ranging from former FBI director Louis Freeh to Microsoft's Trusted Computing Group Vice President and former Justice Department computer crime chief Scott Charney, have told Congress the same thing at this month's hearings.
Cybersecurity isn't a military problem, or even a government problem -- it's a universal problem. All networks, military, government, civilian and commercial, use the same computers, the same networking hardware, the same Internet protocols and the same software packages. We all are the targets of the same attack tools and tactics. It's not even that government targets are somehow more important; these days, most of our nation's critical IT infrastructure is in commercial hands. Government-sponsored Chinese hackers go after both military and civilian targets.
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