Book of the Month

Shuts and Failures

by Michael Maiello

US digs in for cyber warfare

by artappraiser 10/16/2012 - 2:36 pm

By Peter Lee, Asia Times Online, October 13, 2012

Recently the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee took a meat-ax to Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant, and its little brother ZTE in a 60-page report on national-security issues posed by the two companies.

The conclusion:

  • They're commies.
  • We can't trust 'em. Or, as the executive summary put it:
    The United States should view with suspicion the continued penetration of the US telecommunications market by Chinese telecommunications companies. [1]
    Specifically, the committee recommended that the government [....]

Also see:

Panetta Warns of Dire Threat of Cyberattack on U.S.
By Elisabeth Bumiller and Thom Shanker, New York Times, October 11/12, 2012

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta warned Thursday that the United States was facing the possibility of a “cyber-Pearl Harbor” and was increasingly vulnerable to foreign computer hackers who could dismantle the nation’s power grid, transportation system, financial networks and government.

In a speech at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York, Mr. Panetta painted a dire picture of how such an attack on the United States might unfold. He said he was reacting to increasing aggressiveness and technological advances by the nation’s adversaries, which officials identified as China, Russia, Iran and militant groups [....]

Read the full article at http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/NJ13Ad01.html

Reid Plans to Tackle Cybersecurity Bill in Lame Duck Session
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2012-10-16

Sen. Harry Reid says he will bring up cybersecurity legislation in the lame duck session.

In response to a speech by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta last week saying that legislation was needed to prevent a potential 9/11-like cyberattack, Reed seconded that warning. [....]

A primarily Democrat-backed version of cybersecurity legislation, the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, focuses on establishing minimum standards for critical infrastructure protection, while a Republican version, the SECURE IT Act, focuses on information sharing. One of the main stumbling blocks for Republicans in the Democratic version was the fear that those standards would morph from guidelines to mandates that would deny companies the flexibility to move quickly to respond to evolving threats.

The two sides agree there is a cyberthreat from nation states, hackers and hacktivists, but could not agree on a compromise between the two bills. [....]

by artappraiser 10/17/2012 - 5:39 am

Latest Comments

more