Category Archives: Tom Carper

Seven years later, DHS set to roll out dramatic changes to system for hiring cyber pros

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Soon, a cybersecurity professional at the Department of Homeland Security could make as much money as the vice president of the United States, $255,800 — or more, up to $332,100, if they’re in a geographic market where that salary makes the offer competitive. It’s just one feature of a dramatic overhaul of how DHS hires cyber personnel rolling out on Nov. 15 after seven years in the making. The Cyber Talent Management System dispenses with traditional federal job classifications in place since 1949, changes how applicants prove themselves, ties pay increases to something other than longevity of service and much more. At a time when private sector organizations and government agenies struggle to recruit and retain cyber personnel, DHS officials and outside observers alike are hopeful the system will deliver results. It’s a priority not just for DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas but for the chief of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure […]

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

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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 […]

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