Category Archives: Bill

Flagship election security bill gets a companion in the House

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A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a bill Friday that aims to assist state governments in their election security efforts and boost cooperation between the federal and state officials on the issue. The bill shares the name of a companion bill in the Senate, the Secure Elections Act, which senators from both major parties have been pushing along for months. The House version was introduced by four members of the Intelligence Committee: Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.; Tom Rooney, R-Fla.; Jim Himes , D-Conn. and Terri Sewell, D-Ala. Like its Senate counterpart, the House bill would allow state and local election offices to apply for federal grants to replace paperless, electronic voting machines. Security experts and election integrity advocates say these machines are vulnerable targets to hacking because they don’t leave a paper trail that can be used to verify each vote. The bill also would facilitate the process whereby the […]

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Cyber diplomacy office at State Department would return under House-passed bill

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With the passage of the Cyber Diplomacy Act in the House of Representatives, Congress took the first step Wednesday in reestablishing a State Department office that was dedicated to developing global norms for digital espionage and more. The bipartisan bill, which passed by voice vote, has garnered support from both sides of the aisle. It would codify and expand the capabilities of the Office of the Cybersecurity Coordinator, which was created in 2011 but abolished last year after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson decided to merge it with the department’s larger Bureau of Economic Affairs. Senators have shown interest in the idea of reestablishing the office, but it’s unclear if the House bill will move in that chamber. Insiders say the shuttering of the cyber office effectively downgraded the State Department’s diplomatic mission for the development of norms for cyberspace — including, for example, debating foreign governments on what should be considered a legitimate target […]

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Senators introduce bill to counter bad cybersecurity practices in credit reporting industry

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Two Democratic senators introduced a bill Wednesday that would provide new regulatory powers for the Federal Trade Commission so that it can punish companies like Equifax and others in the credit reporting industry for poor cybersecurity practices. The “Data Breach Prevention and Compensation Act” by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Mark Warner, D-Va., contains plans for the creation of a “Cybersecurity Office” within the FTC to be led by a career supervisor who will be able to enforce financial penalties on rule breakers. This supervisor would need to maintain relations with the credit reporting industry as the FTC proposes future cybersecurity standards and other related regulations. The move comes in the wake of the massive data breach at Equifax in 2017, which caused the private records of more than 145 million Americans to be compromised by hackers. A subsequent investigation into the incident by the FBI showed that an outdated piece […]

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Fake O2 bill delivers Emotet banking Trojan

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Continuing with the never ending series of malware downloaders is an email with the subject of My O2 Business – Your O2 Bill is ready – (recipient’s name) coming from random senders  which delivers Emotet banking Trojan There has also been several different fake invoice versions spoofing or faking various companies, some … Continue reading → Continue reading Fake O2 bill delivers Emotet banking Trojan→

Senators introduce bipartisan bill to improve Internet of Things cybersecurity

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A new bill introduced in the Senate Tuesday by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., would establish a new set of cybersecurity standards for companies that hope to sell so-called “Internet of Things” devices to federal agencies. Inconspicuously named the “Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017,” the legislation mandates that any IoT product sold to the government must be able to receive software patches in case of a discovered vulnerability. In addition, the bill calls for manufacturers to discontinue the practice of hard-coding passwords into the firmware of devices — a process which is already condemned by security experts. Typically, a hard-coded password is hidden from the user and is intended for the manufacturer’s use only. But hackers have taken advantage of hardcoded passwords to break into IoT devices and incorporate them into distributed denial of service attacks. Notably, the bill also encourages curious researchers to […]

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Lawmakers introduce bill to shine spotlight on government hacking stockpile

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A bipartisan bill introduced in Congress Wednesday aims to add transparency to a controversial oversight framework currently used by federal agencies known as the Vulnerabilities Equities Process. The legislation, as it’s currently written, would help better define exactly when and if the U.S. government should notify a company about flawed computer code they discover in one of their products. Named the Protecting Our Ability to Counter Hacking Act, or PATCH Act, the bill seeks to codify the VEP into law; answering some of the tough questions that surround the current framework, including who sits on the multi-agency review board responsible for decisions and when public disclosure is appropriate. In addition, the PATCH Act offers a brief decision-making criteria and broadly describes certain considerations that must be weighed by board members, including the Secretary of Commerce and the Directors of National Intelligence. Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Cory […]

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Congressman says proposed ‘hacking back’ bill is gaining traction

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A bill recently proposed by Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., that would allow companies victimized by hackers to take “active cyber defense measures,” is now gaining bipartisan support, according to the congressman. Graves told CyberScoop he has received “positive feedback for the concept from both Republican and Democrat members” and “significant interest from the public, business community and academic researchers.” Interest in the bill, Graves explained, reflects a “growing recognition that current federal law doesn’t provide an adequate deterrence for criminal hacking.” “With less than 1 percent of criminal hackers being prosecuted, there is a growing consensus that we need to determine a better way to impose costs to deter their behavior. Self-defense is one method of imposing a higher cost,” Graves said. The proposed bill, named the “Active Cyber Defense Certainty Act,” is currently a discussion draft. Graves’ office continues to receive feedback from industry, think tanks, academia and other members of […]

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