Category Archives: Jeh Johnson

Shutdown erodes feds’ ability to set cyber strategies, say lawmaker and ex-DHS officials

Posted on by

A top House lawmaker, along with former Department of Homeland Security officials, say the partial government shutdown is hampering federal officials’ ability to anticipate and proactively address cyberthreats. “We can kind of address things as they come, but we can’t look forward and do additional mitigation and other kinds of things that we normally do,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told reporters Thursday at an event on Capitol Hill on the security implications of the shutdown. “So if somebody tells us about something or we identify it, we can go after it,” added Thompson, who is chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. “But we can’t plan for the next month or the next three months because we don’t have the capacity to do it with the shutdown.” Former DHS officials agreed that the partial shutdown, which began Dec. 22 and has 800,000 workers across all agencies furloughed or working without pay, […]

The post Shutdown erodes feds’ ability to set cyber strategies, say lawmaker and ex-DHS officials appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading Shutdown erodes feds’ ability to set cyber strategies, say lawmaker and ex-DHS officials→

Senate hearing presses DHS for details on election security progress

Posted on by

A Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday appraised how well the Trump administration is tackling the issue of election security, amid fears of foreign interference through cyberattacks and other means. Much of the hearing focused on the increasingly close relationship between the Department of Homeland Security and the state and local offices that run elections. Having declared election systems as part of the country’s critical infrastructure in January 2017, DHS has been offering states and localities various forms of voluntary support on election security. Many election officials initially were skeptical of the designation and feared federal overreach, a sentiment that was acknowledged at Wednesday’s hearing. “The administration of elections is the responsibility of the state and local officials and the support your agency provides is on a voluntary basis. What we’ve learned is that states will only engage with the department if they feel there’s value,” said Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen […]

The post Senate hearing presses DHS for details on election security progress appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading Senate hearing presses DHS for details on election security progress→

Former DHS secretary issues stark warning on election cybersecurity

Posted on by

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson on Thursday warned members of Congress that additional actions to standardize and improve the cybersecurity of state election systems must be taken before the 2018 mid-term elections and the 2020 presidential election. “National elections will be decided in key precincts in key states,” said Johnson, testifying before a task force of congressional Democrats investigating cyber threats to election infrastructure. “In other words, the integrity of our election outcomes on a national level dances on the head of a pin.” Johnson, who issued multiple public statements in the run up to the 2016 presidential election referencing attempts by Russian hackers to infiltrate election systems in dozens of states, said although he knows of no evidence that any ballots were altered, he remains very concerned about the integrity of state election systems, particularly voter registration databases. “Last years’ experience was a wake-up call,” Johnson said. […]

The post Former DHS secretary issues stark warning on election cybersecurity appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading Former DHS secretary issues stark warning on election cybersecurity→

State election officials resisted federal cybersecurity assistance during 2016 election

Posted on by

State and local election authorities resisted federal cybersecurity assistance during 2016, President Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary told lawmakers Wednesday. As attacks against election targets because increasingly visible in 2016, Jeh Johnson, who was secretary into early 2017, floated the idea of designating election infrastructure as critical infrastructure, making it a top security priority for DHS and give it the benefit of domestic and international cybersecurity protections. “To my disappointment, the reaction to a critical infrastructure designation, at least from those who spoke up, ranged from neutral to negative,” Johnson said. ” Those who expressed negative views stated that running elections in this country was the sovereign and exclusive responsibility of the states, and they did not want federal intrusion, a federal takeover, or federal regulation of that process. This was a profound misunderstanding of what a critical infrastructure designation would mean, which I tried to clarify for them.” A a critical infrastructure designation […]

The post State election officials resisted federal cybersecurity assistance during 2016 election appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading State election officials resisted federal cybersecurity assistance during 2016 election→