Democrats furious after intelligence officials cancel in-person election security briefings

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday said it would provide election-security information to Congress through written materials rather than in-person briefings, sparking outrage among Democrats just two months before the presidential election. In letters to the House and Senate intelligence committees, among others, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said his office would provide lawmakers with “written finished intelligence products” on foreign threats to the election to prevent leaks of classified information and ensure the materials aren’t “misunderstood” or “politicized.” The move highlights the partisan fight over election security material as U.S. officials warn that Russia is once again interfering in the electoral process for the benefit of President Donald Trump. After one routine election-security briefing for lawmakers in February in which an intelligence official said Russia had a preference for Trump, the president was reportedly irate that Democrats received the information before he did. Trump […]

The post Democrats furious after intelligence officials cancel in-person election security briefings appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading Democrats furious after intelligence officials cancel in-person election security briefings

DHS supply chain and CDM bills pass the House

The House passed two bills Tuesday that aim to bolster the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity efforts as they relate to securing the agency’s own vendor supply chain as well as securing other federal agencies’ networks. Both bills now head to the Senate. One of them, the Securing the Homeland Security Supply Chain Act of 2018, would give the secretary of Homeland Security authority to block IT vendors deemed to pose a supply chain risk from contracting with the agency. “There is no question that nation-states and criminal actors are constantly trying to exploit U.S. government and private sector systems to steal information or insert potentially harmful hardware or software,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., on the House floor before a voice vote. King cited recent and ongoing U.S. government scrutiny of Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab and Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE as justification for […]

The post DHS supply chain and CDM bills pass the House appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading DHS supply chain and CDM bills pass the House

​Bill to create DHS cyber agency faces a tough road in the Senate​

The bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to create​ a new ​cybersecurity ​agency inside the Department of Homeland Security ​faces a tough climb in the Senate​ despite bipartisan support, observers and staffers say​. H.R.3359, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2017, passed by voice vote​ ​Monday​ — moving the bill to the upper chamber. In brief floor remarks, Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, called the bill a “compromise” that fellow Texan, House Homeland Security Committee​ ​Chairman ​Michael McCaul, had worked on with “dogged determination.” In a statement, newly sworn-in DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen also praised McCaul’s “tireless work” on the proposal. And well she might: It’s his second attempt — with bipartisan support from Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. — to create an operational cybersecurity agency within DHS. The first bill never made it to the House floor last Congress because of turf fights: Nine other House committees […]

The post ​Bill to create DHS cyber agency faces a tough road in the Senate​ appeared first on Cyberscoop.

Continue reading ​Bill to create DHS cyber agency faces a tough road in the Senate​