Cybersecurity review scrutinizing telecom policy
The government may have to take a new approach to securing the nation's telecommunications infrastructure, two senior administration officials said Friday.
The intersection of military operations and telecommunications policy is just one of the many facets of cybersecurity currently under review by the administration as it wraps up its 60-day, government-wide review of cybersecurity programs.
Two officials familiar with the review, led by Melissa Hathaway, the acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security Councils, said the laws and policies governing telecommunications have not kept pace with the technology in the sector. Consequently, the administration is reviewing ways to balance the need to address evolving threats--such as viruses or organized cybercrime--with the maintenance of information infrastructure, they said, talking to reporters on a conference call.
Hathaway's team has 14 days left to create a cybersecurity action plan for the president. That plan, to be presented on April 17, will be a springboard for White House-led cybersecurity plans in the coming years and will put the onus on the White House to direct interagency cybersecurity efforts, said the officials, who declined to be named.
The Obama administration has sought out unprecedented levels of input from government agencies, the private sector, and other organizations, the officials said. In all, the review so far as consisted of more than 40 meetings and has yielded more than 100 papers to inform the final action plan.
After reviewing presidential directives, strategic plans produced by advisory boards, and a host of other cybersecurity documents, the review team identified more than 250 requirements for securing cyberspace that were commonly recognized as critical. The team asked government departments to explain what plans were in place to meet those requirements relevant to their department mission. For instance, the team met with the Social Security Administration and the IRS to discuss their unique role in securing citizens' personal information and maintaining public trust.
The review has emphasized the need for privacy and the protection of civil liberties and has included discussions with groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Center for Democracy and Technology, the administration officials said.
There were also discussions with more than 50 universities about relevant research currently underway and ways in which it could be used to improve the country's security. About 70 universities collaborated on a report on ways they could contribute to a national cybersecurity effort.
The review team is currently conducting a gap analysis to determine how best to coordinate interagency policy from the White House and how to architect cybersecurity efforts like standards in the procurement process.
Stephanie Condon is a staff writer for CNET News focused on the intersection of technology and politics. She is based in Washington, D.C. E-mail Stephanie. 
From the above... when will there be a review of "laws and policies governing (international) telecommunications (that) have not kept pace with the technology (within) the sector from an international perspective.
How about universities in the United States of America (in addition to conducting research on "ways in which it could be used to improve the country's security"); also, collaborate on ways in which results of research could be used to offer a "magic bullet solution" to the current world's financial and economic problems?
How about we get rid of the military, police, and intel leadership and replace them with leadership from universities?
Then we would win the war on terror.
After that we should elicit the university populations to police hardened areas around the world and solve the problem of crime. They would kick butt.
Our generals and senior military and law enforcement officials should not be consulted for such matters, instead the genius at the universities should be tapped.
Finally, we should solve the problem of sadness and poverty... as well as free and unlimited energy.
If we had only listened to the consensus opinion of universities in the past nothing bad would have ever happened in history. Heck, Al Qaeda wouldn't have even formed a group, unless it was to play soccer!
Are you forgetting that the late Albert Einstein gave us the formula: E = MC<2/>
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. - Confucius"!
Changes will come; and, may be coming sooner that we think!
How about if all the "weapons" in the world were turned into "plough shears"!
Sure, they will be consulted - especially to let them know that the "funding" (recommended by the non-military economic planners, bankers....) for the missions is getting harder and harder to be appropriated.
- by superduperuser April 4, 2009 11:04 AM PDT
- Universities? Universities have not led on any trends in computer security and are now just finally trying to get some of the more hard core basics through their heads. I have little confidence either college students or professors can ever be generally savvy enough to do any good in computer security.
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- by Commander_Spock April 4, 2009 2:46 PM PDT
- Re: "[...If this was looking at our military, would we turn to the military for questions, or universities? Like these guys would understand...]"
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- by Commander_Spock April 4, 2009 3:06 PM PDT
- This should have read: "[... And, it is said that "crime does not pay"; and, money is the root of all evil]"!
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(10 Comments)If this was looking at our military, would we turn to the military for questions, or universities? Like these guys would understand.
Or physical crime?
Computer security revolves around street smarts. The industry is led by guys who think like hackers. College professors think like scribes. They are generally - there are always exceptions - light years away from the sort of mindset required in these cases.
This is why the vast majority of the cutting edge work is done by hacker types, not phds.
Those guys are good at making stuff others tell them to make.
No hacker has an ambition to be a college professor. That is the last sort of profession they want to be. And whether we wish to use the word 'hacker' for the white hats or not, bottomline is they think like hackers.
Circa 1939 - 1945: Where do you think persons like the late Winston Churchill turned to for that country which he lived in to come up with the ways and means for defending against the attacking forces. Furthermore, where do you think the "materials" for the "Magnificent Flying Machines" that are the "Harrier Jump Jets" and the "Concorde" were developed. And, it is said that "crime does not pay"!
BTW, where do you think some of those ex-military personnel that you are talking about end up sometimes? Within the university environments of course; and, in such cases wearing "two hats" instead of one.