Ideas

Ben Carson's Blueprint for Better US Cybersecurity

The Republican 2016 contender is just the second candidate of either party to lay out a comprehensive cybersecurity plan for the United States.

Science & Tech

US Homeland Security's $6B Firewall Has More Than a Few Frightening Blind Spots

A recent audit revealed the National Cybersecurity Protection System—aka EINSTEIN—does not scan for 94 percent of common computer vulnerabilities. But that's not all of its shortcomings.

Science & Tech

ISIS Communications App: Much Ado About Not Much

The group’s “secure messaging app” doesn’t work. Ghost Security Group backtracks on previous claim.

Science & Tech

The Middle East's Quietly Rising Cyber Super Power

Israel now has more than 300 cybersecurity companies, exports totaling $6 billion, and 20 percent of the world’s private cyber investment dollars.

Threats

From China, an Expansive and Dangerous View of Cyber Deterrence

One military researcher suggests pursuing it in ways that could prove destabilizing.

Business

After OPM Hack, Security-Clearance Requests Will Run Through the Pentagon

The White House directive comes as the OPM shifts its background investigations to a newly-created National Background Investigations Bureau.

Ideas

The Rise of Cyber Repression

When even the New York Times is open to tinkering with the First Amendment, it’s time to look at the way groups and governments are shaping our online society.

Science & Tech

This Cyber ‘Safeguard’ Is Hurting US Defenses

Tech execs and DHS' cyber czar say a multinational pact keeps them from sharing information about intruders' tools.

Science & Tech

Feds Scrambling to Close Backdoor in Widely Purchased IT Gear

One former NSA employee calls it "a perfect case example of why cryptographic backdoors are so dangerous in the real world.”

Ideas

Someone Needs to Run the US Effort to Defeat ISIS Online

Lots of government agencies are doing something; the White House needs to coordinate them.

Threats

Agencies Get Marching Orders for Filling 'Major' Cyber Talent Shortage

"We still have the fundamentals wrong," says Office of Management and Budget's Trevor Rudolph.

Threats

New OPM Cyber Chief Is Bracing for an ISIS Hack

The U.S., said the agency's first-ever senior cyber and information technology adviser, has to 'assume that at some point in time they may be successful.'

Science & Tech

State Department Says Hackers May Have Stolen Sensitive Data

The revelation, buried in a new inspector general report, is the first acknowledgment that foreign spies might have grabbed national secrets during a months-long campaign last fall.

Science & Tech

DARPA Wants Networks to Find and Fix Security Holes — In Seconds

The Pentagon is seeking an "automation revolution in computer security” in which machines swiftly detect attacks and patch their vulnerabilities.

Threats

Lawmakers Demand US Military Carry Out Pretend Cyber War Against China, Russia

In an unprecedented move tucked into the defense authorization bill, Congress ordered U.S. Cyber Command to carry out simulated 'war games' against Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

Business

Congress Orders $200M Antivirus Scan for the Pentagon's Major Weapons

Buried in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act is a section requiring evaluations of cyber vulnerabilities in U.S. military weapon systems.

Science & Tech

Can the Pentagon Ditch the Password and Finally Embrace the 'Internet of Things'?

A new report claims the U.S. Defense Department could save millions using internet-ready devices and sensors. But there's one huge problem before that can happen.

Business

Got Cyber? US Homeland Security Wants to Fast-Track Hundreds of New Workers

By June, DHS hopes to be moving on 1,000 new positions toward a more robust information security capability.

Science & Tech

How The Russian Crash Investigation Could Alter the War On Encryption

If intercepted communications prove an ISIS bomb caused the crash in Egypt, it could be just the boost surveillance state advocates need.