Category Archives: trump administration

Senators want answers on State Department’s glaring cybersecurity gaps

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The State Department must do more to shore up its cybersecurity posture, according to a bipartisan group of senators. The department is woefully behind on hitting various federal cybersecurity benchmarks, and it is weak on basic measures to protect against phishing, hacks and other cyberattacks, wrote Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., in a letter to Secretary Mike Pompeo. The letter cites two recent reports: The department’s inspector general found last year that 33 percent of diplomatic missions failed to conduct even the most basic cyberthreat management practices, like regular reviews and audits. Also, the General Services Administration found that the department has only instituted enhanced access controls on 11 percent of agency devices. The Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act requires agencies to enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for elevated privileged accounts. “We urge you to improve compliance by enabling more secure authentication mechanisms across […]

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White House floats law to shore up agencies’ digital supply chain

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The Trump administration is proposing a law to tighten up the security of computer systems that the federal government buys and uses. Thursday, the White House publicly released the draft of legislation it had sent to Capitol Hill two days earlier. The proposal would shore up supply-chain cybersecurity for civilian federal agencies, which is currently being considered in piecemeal fashion across multiple different bills in the House and Senate. The news was first reported by Inside Cybersecurity. The White House’s proposal, titled “Federal Information Technology Supply Chain Risk Management Improvement Act of 2018,” would create two bodies – a Federal IT Acquisition Security Council and a Critical IT Supply Chain Risk Evaluation Board – that offer agencies advice and guidance on how to cut down on supply chain security risks when procuring their technology. If passed, the bill would give civilian agencies more authorities and tools to mitigate supply chain […]

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As defense bill approaches finish line, future of Chinese company ZTE hangs in the balance

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When House and Senate negotiators sit down next week to iron out their differences in the annual defense bill, the fate of Chinese telecom giant ZTE will be a key issue. Select lawmakers from both chambers are headed to a conference committee to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2019. One notable discrepancy is ZTE-related language: Broadly speaking, the Senate version calls for stricter rules that would curtail the Chinese company’s ability to do business in the U.S.. The House NDAA would restrict the Department of Defense and its contractors from procuring equipment from Chinese telecoms ZTE and Huawei. The Senate version, taking stock of ZTE’s continuous flouting of U.S. sanctions, would explicitly block ZTE from doing business in the country writ large. The Senate’s version of the NDAA, with the ZTE ban tucked into it, passed with broad bipartisan support, 85-10. […]

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Scott Pruitt Has Until July 11 to Explain His Climate Skepticism, Judge Rules

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After Pruitt ignored an FOIA request for studies supporting his view that humans are not the primary contributor to climate change, environmental advocates turned to the courts. Continue reading Scott Pruitt Has Until July 11 to Explain His Climate Skepticism, Judge Rules→

Democratic lawmakers push Paul Ryan for info on election hacks

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Top Democratic lawmakers from six House committees are calling on House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan to compel the Trump administration to produce all information regarding Russian cyberattacks against the U.S. prior to and during the 2016 presidential election. The highest ranking Democrats on the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Judiciary, Intelligence, House Administration, Homeland Security, and Foreign Affairs wrote a letter to Ryan, R-Wisc., asking for documents about the Russian attacks that various lawmakers have been after for months. “We have been trying to work through the committee process, but we have faced two obstacles: the Trump administration is refusing to provide the documents we requested, and Republicans appear to have no interest in compelling the Trump administration to produce them,” the ranking members wrote in the letter.  “Our goal is to obtain the documents collected and prepared by our federal agencies about these Russian attacks in order to […]

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Kaspersky Lab files another lawsuit in wake of NDAA ban

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Kaspersky Lab has upped its legal fight with the U.S. government, filing another lawsuit related to a ban against its products tucked within the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. Based on court documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Russian company says the ban is unconstitutional. Kaspersky’s lawyers say that under the Constitution’s Bill of Attainder Clause, Congress is forbidden “from enacting laws which impose individualized deprivations of life, liberty, and property and inflict punishment on individuals and corporations without a judicial trial.” The 2018 NDAA instituted a government-wide ban on use of Kaspersky products. Signed by President Donald Trump in December, the ban would go into place on Oct. 1, 2o18. “Kaspersky Lab believes that these provisions violate the U.S. Constitution by specifically and unfairly singling out the company for legislative punishment, based on vague and unsubstantiated allegations without any basis in fact,” the […]

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Senators urged to question DHS nominee Nielsen’s management experience

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Senators of both parties were tight-lipped Tuesday about their plans for Homeland Security Secretary nominee Kirstjen Nielsen’s confirmation hearing — but there’s one topic many observers are hoping they’ll ask about: Her experience. The issue of leadership is key one for the department — a sprawling government behemoth which encompasses two of the largest federal law enforcement agencies and is responsible for a bewildering variety of missions. In particular, observers say, its cyber mission has been handicapped by the absence of an operational agency responsible for securing government computer networks and helping vital U.S. businesses harden their IT systems against online attacks. Nielsen’s defenders point to a career in emergency preparedness, first as a junior White House official and later as a consultant and think-tank fellow, culminating in her brief stint this year as chief of staff at DHS under then-Secretary John Kelly. But critics point out that, until this year, she’d never managed […]

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‘Sherpa’ leading Nielsen DHS confirmation effort is lobbyist tied to agency contractors

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A former lobbyist representing companies with business before the Department of Homeland Security is leading the confirmation preparation for DHS secretary nominee Kirstjen Nielsen, assigning government staffers to prepare policy memos and coordinating her paperwork submissions to the Senate  — an unprecedented role that’s causing consternation among some administration officials. “I’ve never seen someone from outside the government play that role,” said one senior official, who was granted anonymity since they were not authorized to talk to the press. “It’s shocking that someone with business before the department would be in that role.” “That is highly unusual,” agreed Chris Lu, a former Senate-confirmed official at the Department of Labor who is now a senior fellow at Virginia University’s Miller Center for Public Affairs. “Has this been cleared by the DHS ethics counsel?” Lu asked. “What procedures were followed to ensure that he doesn’t get access to non-public information that might benefit his clients?” Thad Bingel, a consultant with the Command Group, […]

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Former officials buck White House adviser’s comments about government hacking

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A top White House official says the U.S. government cannot rely on offensive cyber operations to deter foreign hackers from attacking American computer networks. Thomas Bossert, an assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, told an audience of former intelligence and defense officials Wednesday in Washington, D.C., that hacking into foreign computer networks should not be considered a means to deterring enemies from breaching American organizations. “There’s very little reason to believe that an offensive cyberattack is going to have any deterrent effect on a cyber adversary,” Bossert said. “In fact, it will likely encourage them to hurry up and become better hackers and develop better defenses. So I don’t just think this is a misnomer, but it’s something that we need to move past and say out loud.” Bossert suggested the U.S. government should instead leverage “national power” to stop future cyberattacks. “I think what we will […]

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