Category Archives: Donald Trump

Top State Department cyber official ‘optimistic’ of deal with Russia, China

Posted on by

The State Department’s top cybersecurity official says he is “optimistic” the United States can strike a deal on norms for government behavior in cyberspace with China and Russia, two of Washington’s biggest adversaries in the domain. Despite myriad grievances with the Russian and Chinese governments over their hacking operations, Robert Strayer said there is ample precedent for a new agreement involving the three cyber powers. “I think that it is possible because we have had three successful processes at the [United Nations] that have established that international law applies to cyberspace just like it does in the real world,” Strayer, a deputy assistant secretary of State, said in an interview. “All of those successful, consensus-based documents required that the U.S., China, and Russia came to agreement on the terms.” Despite that history, the latest round of talks at the UN forum, known as the Group of Governmental Experts, collapsed in […]

The post Top State Department cyber official ‘optimistic’ of deal with Russia, China appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading Top State Department cyber official ‘optimistic’ of deal with Russia, China→

ZTE ban, tucked inside the NDAA, passes the Senate

Posted on by

The $716 billion National Defense Authorization Act passed the U.S. Senate on Monday, including an amendment that kills a deal the Trump administration made with China that effectively saved telecommunications firm ZTE. The bill still has a long way to go. The House of Representatives’ version, which omits the ZTE Ban, has to be reconciled with the Senate version. Additionally, the White House strongly opposes the measure. Despite the process ahead, the amendment’s backers are taking the NDAA’s passage as a victory. “We’re heartened that both parties made it clear that protecting American jobs and national security must come first when making deals with countries like China, which has a history of having little regard for either,”  Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Tom Cotton, R-Ark, Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. said in a statement. “It is vital that our colleagues in the House keep this bipartisan provision in the bill as […]

The post ZTE ban, tucked inside the NDAA, passes the Senate appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading ZTE ban, tucked inside the NDAA, passes the Senate→

White House taps Karen Evans as assistant Energy secretary for cybersecurity

Posted on by

President Donald Trump plans to nominate Karen Evans, a veteran of federal IT security, to be assistance secretary of Energy for cybersecurity, energy security and emergency response, the White House announced late Tuesday. A former top IT official at the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush, Evans has also served as the Department of Energy’s chief information officer. More recently, she was an IT adviser on Trump’s transition team. Outside of government, she has been an advocate of improving the nation’s cybersecurity workforce through the U.S. Cyber Challenge. Evans would rejoin DOE at a momentous time for the department as it looks to execute a new cybersecurity strategy and boost the defenses of U.S. energy companies through an information-sharing program. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has been outspoken lately about the industry’s cybersecurity challenges. “The sustained and growing threat of cyberattacks to our energy infrastructure requires us to think […]

The post White House taps Karen Evans as assistant Energy secretary for cybersecurity appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading White House taps Karen Evans as assistant Energy secretary for cybersecurity→

Delete all your emails and acid wash your hard drives, says security expert Sean Hannity

Posted on by

Some people don’t know if you should trust the media anymore, with accusations of fake news flying here, there, and everywhere.
Which makes me wonder who can you trust for computer security advice? How about a TV host?
Continue reading Delete all your emails and acid wash your hard drives, says security expert Sean Hannity→

House panel rejects call for cyberthreat report on ZTE amid Trump deal

Posted on by

On the heels of a reported U.S. deal with embattled Chinese telecom company ZTE, American lawmakers rejected a Democratic measure that would have directed the Department of Homeland Security to provide more information on any cybersecurity risks posed by the international tech company. The top Republican and Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee sparred over the utility of the resolution, which would have tasked DHS with providing any documentation it has on cyber risks introduced by the use of ZTE products on federal, state and local government networks. The Republican-led panel voted 16-11 against the measure. Instead, lawmakers will get a classified briefing from officials at DHS, the FBI and the Defense Department on June 13 about the  national security risks posed by ZTE and Huawei, another Chinese technology giant. Texas Republican Michael McCaul, the committee’s chairman, announced the briefing at a committee markup Wednesday on Capitol Hill. U.S. […]

The post House panel rejects call for cyberthreat report on ZTE amid Trump deal appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading House panel rejects call for cyberthreat report on ZTE amid Trump deal→

Paul Manafort’s Terrible Encrypted Messaging OPSEC Got Him Additional Charges

Posted on by

Don’t commit crimes. But if you do, don’t back up the evidence of your crimes to Apple or Google’s cloud, where it doesn’t matter that the evidence was originally end-to-end encrypted. Continue reading Paul Manafort’s Terrible Encrypted Messaging OPSEC Got Him Additional Charges→