Category Archives: Rep. Will Hurd

After years of work, Congress passes ‘internet of things’ cybersecurity bill — and it’s kind of a big deal

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Congress last week did something that it rarely does: It passed a meaningful cybersecurity bill. The legislation is aimed at enhancing the safeguards of internet-connected devices — also known as the internet of things (IoT) — such as smart sensors that monitor water quality or control ships in waterway locks. The bill is also a major step toward the federal government encouraging vulnerability disclosure policies that implement programs for organizations to work with security researchers to fix software flaws. “It is arguably the most significant U.S. IoT-specific cybersecurity law to date, as well as the most significant law promoting coordinated vulnerability disclosure in the private sector to date,” said Harley Geiger, director of public policy at Rapid7, a cybersecurity company. All it took to get across the finish line was more than three years of bipartisan work, encroaching state and foreign government IoT rules, a ticking legislative clock, goodwill toward […]

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Security clearance background checks should take three days, Rep. Will Hurd says

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Rep. Will Hurd, who recently announced he is leaving Congress after his current term is up, has something to get off his chest. The Texas Republican has previously said he thinks the federal government should be able to issue security clearances in one week — but now he says it can be done in three days. “I never thought I would have to work on such a basic issue as this: [Getting a security clearance] shouldn’t take 9 months,” Hurd said Thursday at the Dell Technologies Forum. “I think we can do it in three days.” Currently, the federal government is currently working on overhauling the security clearance process as part of an overhaul known as Trusted Workforce 2.0 — and already in the last several months the government has made some progress on the backlog of applications. Hurd — a former CIA officer — has had a front-row seat for the process […]

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Will Hurd’s Black Hat keynote nixed amid criticism of voting record

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Black Hat USA has decided to cancel an upcoming keynote speech from Rep. Will Hurd after criticism of his voting record on women’s rights issues. The choice of the Texas Republican, a lawmaker with a detailed familiarity with cybersecurity issues, had drawn the ire of some in the cybersecurity industry because of his opposition to abortion. Less than 24 hours after Tech Crunch published an article that raised those concerns, Black Hat has scrapped Hurd’s keynote, which was to take place in August. TechCrunch was also first to report the cancellation. “Black Hat has chosen to remove U.S. Representative Will Hurd as our 2019 Black Hat USA Keynote,” Black Hat, one of the world’s biggest cybersecurity conferences, said in a statement. “We misjudged the separation of technology and politics. We will continue to focus on technology and research. However, we recognize that Black Hat USA is not the appropriate platform for the […]

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Rep. Mike McCaul: It’s taken too long to reauthorize NPPD

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Representatives on the House Committee on Homeland Security stressed the need for attention to cybersecurity issues at an event addressing the state of national security on Monday at George Washington University. Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, painted a bleak picture when it comes to the cybersecurity threats the U.S. faces from foreign adversaries. He also promoted ongoing Congressional efforts to reorganize the office inside the Department of Homeland Security that oversees national cybersecurity infrastructure. “Our adversaries, both nation-state and non-state actors, threaten us around the clock in cyberspace,” McCaul said. “Whether it’s North Korea launching a global cyberattack crippling infrastructure, to China stealing our nation’s valuable intellectual property, to Russia conducting disinformation warfare campaigns to sow discord among our people, to Iran attacking our financial institutions, to terrorists spreading evil propaganda over the internet, to criminals taking our financial and personal information, we are all exposed to harm.” McCaul touted […]

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