Category Archives: senate

Senate fails to confirm new CISA director before two-week break, drawing criticism

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The Senate’s failure to confirm a new director for DHS’s top cybersecurity agency before the chamber goes on a two-week recess has raised ire from cybersecurity leaders who say the role is too important to leave unfilled. President Joe Biden nominated Jen Easterly, a former U.S. National Security Agency official, for CISA director and Chris Inglis as national cyber director in April. The Senate confirmed Inglis last week. Easterly will be tasked with leading the agency at a critical time for U.S. cybersecurity. The agency is still dealing with the aftermath of a high-profile Russian hack of nine federal agencies. It also faces a growing ransomware crisis, including recent high-profile attacks on fuel provider Colonial Pipeline and meat supplier JBS. “It’s completely irresponsible for Republicans to block Jen Easterly’s confirmation and delay getting her on the job at a time when we need all hands on deck to protect against […]

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Biden cyber nominees Easterly, Inglis describe ransomware as urgent national security threat

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It’s been two months since President Joe Biden announced his two most important Senate-confirmed cybersecurity picks: Jen Easterly to lead the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity agency, and Chris Inglis to be the national cyber director. During that time, ransomware attacks have forced temporary shutdowns of a major fuel pipeline and a big meat supplier, and Biden has signaled he will raise the issue of harboring criminal hackers in a meeting next week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Americans got their closest look yet of how Inglis and Easterly would approach those pressing issues during a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday. The nominees labeled ransomware a “scourge” that threatens national security, vowed to work with critical infrastructure firms to improve their defenses, and wondered aloud if additional federal regulations were necessary to incentivize firms to reduce their vulnerabilities to hacking. The U.S. government, Inglis said, must “seize back the initiative that […]

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IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act Passed, Heads to President’s Desk

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Security experts praised the newly approved IoT law as a step in the right direction for insecure connected federal devices. Continue reading IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act Passed, Heads to President’s Desk→

Shoddy US government review of Chinese telcos endangered national security, Senate panel finds

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For decades, the U.S. government’s process for reviewing the cybersecurity risks of Chinese telecommunications companies operating in the U.S. has been so haphazard that it has “endangered our national security,” a bipartisan Senate review released Tuesday found. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said that the group responsible for these kinds of reviews, made up of national security officials from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice, largely failed to rein in Chinese telecommunications companies because of an “informal” process, insufficient resourcing, and a lack of statutory authority. Federal Communications Commission commissioners have likened the group’s review to an “inextricable black hole,” the report said. As a result of minimal oversight from the group, known as “Team Telecom,” Chinese state-owned telecommunications companies have been able to operate with relative impunity, even as concerns have mounted that Chinese state-owned companies could be enabling espionage backed by the Chinese government within the […]

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Senate Passes Bill to Help Defend U.S. Energy Grid against Digital Attacks

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The United States Senate has passed a bill to help strengthen the defenses of the U.S. energy grid against digital attacks. On 27 June, the Senate passed the Securing Energy Infrastructure Act. Introduced by U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Jim R… Continue reading Senate Passes Bill to Help Defend U.S. Energy Grid against Digital Attacks→

Equifax breach leads U.S. Senate to propose America draft its own GDPR

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A US Senate report on an investigation into the monumental Equifax breach chastises the company for lax security, and proposes heading off similar incidents in the future – by making American companies punishable by law for mishandling personally… Continue reading Equifax breach leads U.S. Senate to propose America draft its own GDPR→

Voting-machine vendors have some serious questions to answer, senators say

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While the security of the 2020 election remains a prominent topic in Washington, a group of Democratic senators is raising alarms about longer-term issues that will resonate after voters are done choosing a president about 20 months from now. The three companies that make most of the voting technology used in the U.S. must be more transparent about their plans to improve their products to meet current expectations about security and performance, says a letter Wednesday by Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and three other top Democrats. In particular, the senators say every machine should reliably produce paper records, and the companies should do far more to upgrade their products. “The integrity of our elections is directly tied to the machines we vote on — the products that you make,” says the letter from Klobuchar, Mark Warner of Virginia, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Gary Peters of Michigan. “Despite shouldering such a massive responsibility, there has been […]

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US Senators say it shouldn’t be a secret when they’ve been hacked

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Federal agencies and companies are required by law to disclose breaches, but Congress is under no such obligation – meaning that the public may have no idea that their political representatives have been hit.
Read more in my article on the Tripwire St… Continue reading US Senators say it shouldn’t be a secret when they’ve been hacked→

US Senators say it shouldn’t be a secret when they’ve been hacked

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Federal agencies and companies are required by law to disclose breaches, but Congress is under no such obligation – meaning that the public may have no idea that their political representatives have been hit.
It’s time this changed.
The post US Senato… Continue reading US Senators say it shouldn’t be a secret when they’ve been hacked→