Major CISPA opponent steps down, jeopardizing White House's veto promise

RussiaToday

The House-approved legislation that would erode Internet privacy for Americans might have just bypassed a major hurdle. The White House official who publically condemned CISPA has suddenly stepped down as Obama’s cybersecurity coordinator.

Howard A. Schmidt announced on Thursday that he will be stepping down as the White House’s cybersecurity coordinator, a post he has held for over two years. Michael Daniel, a 17-year veteran at the Office of Management and Budget's National Security Division, will assume Schmidt’s role.

Schmidt’s announcement comes at a time when cybersecurity is one of the most heated topics being weighed in by lawmakers in Washington. As an opponent of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act — CISPA — Schmidt is believed to be instrumental in the White House’s opposition to the bill. After members of the US House of Representatives passed CISPA earlier this year, the White House declared that the president’s top advisors would suggest that the commander-in-chief vetoes the legislation if it makes it to the Oval Office. With Schmidt out of the picture, however, the future of CISPA is now more uncertain than ever.

Larry Clinton of the Internet Security Alliance tells the Bank Info Security website, “Howard can be credited for being one of the major influences on the emergence of cybersecurity as a major issue requiring far more intensified public policy analysis and direction than was the case before Howard took office." But as an opponent of CISPA, even the White House’s own cybersecurity coordinator found flaws with the bill. Until his replacement officially condemns the act himself, the same cannot be said for him.

In a statement made available early Thursday from the new cybersecurity coordinator, Daniel says, "The challenges in this area are real and serious, but I have the benefit of building on the progress Howard has made through his leadership and I look forward to continuing my career in public service in a new way.”

Army General Keith Alexander of the National Security Agency applauds the appointment of Daniel, whom he says, “understands the challenges that are facing our nation in cyberspace and the importance of moving forward with urgency to address the threats.” Regardless of what level of threat CISPA poses for Americans, however, those that have examined the proposed legislation largely agree that the bill, in its current form, does not address the issue of cybersecurity as much as it raises concerns of Americans over privacy provisions.

This would not be a case, many would argue, where an urgent answer is perhaps not the best way to handle CISPA.

“Cyber security, when done right and done narrowly, could benefit everyone,” Kendall Burman of the Center for Democracy and Technology told RT earlier this year, “but it needs to be done in an incremental way with an arrow approach, and the heavy hand that lawmakers are taking with these current bills . . . it brings real serious concerns.”

Despite widespread approval in the House, opponents from Washington and Silicon Valley alike have voiced concerns. Software developers Mozilla said CISPA “has a broad and alarming reach that goes far beyond Internet security,” and Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) says it exemplifies “the federal government’s insatiable desire to control the Internet.”

A Precursor to War? As Washington Renews Military Threats Against Iran, Cyber Attacks Escalate

Global Research

Tom Burghardt

As evidence mounts that the U.S. secret state is launching cyber weapons against official enemies, while carrying out wide-ranging spy ops against their "friends," Gen. Keith Alexander, the dual-hatted overlord of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, says that the Obama administration is "working on a system" that will "help" ISPs thwart malicious attacks.

Speaking at the Security Innovation Network (SINET) "Showcase 2011" shindig at the National Press Club in Washington, Alexander told security grifters eager to gouge taxpayers for another piece of lucrative "cybersecurity" pie: "What I'm concerned about are the destructive attacks. Those are the things yet to come that cause us a lot of concern."

That's rather rich coming from the head of a secretive Pentagon satrapy suspected of designing and launching the destructive Stuxnet virus which targeted Iran's civilian nuclear program.

According to fresh evidence provided by IT security experts it now appears that the same constellation of shadowy forces which unleashed Stuxnet are at it again with the newly discovered Duqu spy Trojan.

In a follow-up analysis, Kaspersky Lab researcher Alex Gostev wrote that "the highest number of Duqu incidents have been recorded in Iran. This fact brings us back to the Stuxnet story and raises a number of issues."

Not least of which is the continuing demonization of the Islamic Republic by an unholy alliance of U.S. militarists, their Israeli pit bulls and congressional shills hyping the "Iran threat."

War Drums Beating

With the United States and the other capitalist powers incapable of digging the world economy out from under the slow-motion meltdown sparked by 2008's market collapse, and with tens of millions of enraged citizens rejecting austerity measures that will further enrich financial elites at their expense, will the Obama administration "go for broke" and set-off a new conflagration in the Middle East?

Ratcheting up bellicose rhetoric, John Keane, a retired four-star general, former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army now currently perched on the board of General Dynamics, a major purveyor of cyber attack tools for the government, told the House Homeland Security Committee October 26, "We've got to put our hand around their throat now. Why don't we kill them? We kill other people who are running terrorist operations against the United States."

Lack of Security Will Be the Rationale for New Internet

News

THE computer networks that control power plants and financial systems will never be secure enough, so government and corporate leaders should consider developing a new, highly secure alternative internet, a top FBI official said today.

Executive Assistant Director of the FBI Shawn Henry said critical systems are under increasing threat from terror groups looking to buy or lease the computer skills and malware needed to launch a cyber attack.

Mr Henry said jihadist militants looking to harm the U.S. can tap organized crime groups who are willing to sell their services and abilities to attack computer systems.

He would not say which terror group or whether any insurgent networks have actually been able to acquire the high-tech capabilities.

But he said one way to protect critical utility and financial systems would be to set up a separate, highly secure internet.

Mr Henry said cyber threats will always continue to evolve and outpace efforts to defend networks against them, at a conference of the International Systems Security Association.

"We can't tech our way out of the cyber threat," Mr Henry said. "The challenge with the internet is you don't know who's launching the attack."

A key step, he said, would be to develop networks where anonymity is not an option and only known and trusted employees have access.

The vulnerabilities of critical systems such as power plants, the electric grid or Wall Street were a prime topic during the conference, reflecting growing concerns by U.S. officials.