Comments on: Obama on cybersecurity: We're not that prepared

President announces new White House cybersecurity coordinator job, which has not been filled, and says feds will not monitor private sector Internet communications.

[rmva]

"While there has been some private grumbling that the new coordinator will not report directly to the president..."

In the previous administration, the cyber guy reported to the janitor at Homeland Security.

[Seaspray0]

Me thinks the janitor could have done a better job running homeland security.

[Michichael]

Talk about a dream job - on the cutting edge of theoretical computing and warfare? *drool*

[Seaspray0]

What? World of Warcraft, right?

[technewsjunkie]

IMPORTANT NEWS on many levels!!

How will this effect Desktop and mobile OS makers Linux, Microsoft and Apple? Or will it only focus on Windows to the exclusion of others? Will it promote others to alleviate a single target??
Who (what governmental bureaucratic agency) will make that choice? In conjunction with Businesses?
Will the Government dictate or mandate certain technologies?

[declan00]

technewsjunkie:

We're waiting to find that out. We don't know yet who this Cybersecurity Coordinator will be, how large of a staff he or she will have, and how broad his or her mandate will be.

We do know, from today's report from the White House, that they're considering new laws and regulations, albeit carefully. Excerpt: "Changes in policy (for example, adoption of regulation or tax incentives) can affect decisions regarding procurement or technological research and devel­opment. The Federal government could also consider ways in which it could focus more resources on research into possible ?game-changing? areas, such as behavioral, policy, and incentive-based cybersecurity solutions"

[Commander_Spock]

Re: "How will this effect Desktop and mobile OS makers Linux, Microsoft and Apple? Or will it only focus on Windows to the exclusion of others? Will it promote others to alleviate a single target??
Who (what governmental bureaucratic agency) will make that choice? In conjunction with Businesses?
Will the Government dictate or mandate certain technologies?..."

Why let others who know the internals of the Operating Systems you are using (as is the case of the Linux Operating System; Apple is a no go; and, the Swiss Cheese Code-Base OS/2 Warp (Microsoft Windows) will always be the Swiss Cheese Code-Base OS/2 Warp (Microsoft Windows)!

As OS/2 is in the Celestial Plain (the International Space Station); so, should it be at the Terrestrial Plane (Earth) where it serving the Russian federation very well.

[monkeyfun14]

@Commander

I swear you must trip acid everytime you post here..

[Commander_Spock]

They say that laughter is very good for the soul "monkeyfun14"; but, isn't it a bit too early in this discussion to begin the entertainment (a break from the "topic" at hand. Understandably, if your "job" at GM is at risk then one can definitely understand the compulsion.

BTW, which OSes are being run at GM!!! If they are those of Linux flavors then that may be a direct saving on Operating Systems costs to help them steer away from the direction (road) they are heading.

How about you offering them some advice since you never venture near "acid"!

[Captain Bebops]

I heard him say there was $1 Trillion in intellectual property loss due to piracy on the Internet. That's about as fictional a figure as Hollywood film.

[Seaspray0]

If you figure in that about 95% of all digital material in china is pirate, that's a big chunk of change they are ripping off the rest of the world.

[pentest]

Only if you think that each pirated copy really does represent a lost sale, which is a laughable idea.

[Commander_Spock]

Re: "I heard him say there was $1 Trillion in intellectual property loss due to piracy on the Internet. That's about as fictional a figure as Hollywood film...."

Well, we also heard a certain U. S. bank talk about "Intellectual Property"; and, "Capital Strength" and therefore one would tend to believe what was said by the Prez.

At least the banks should know.... we all know where most of the "money" went; and, they (the banks) know how and where it is all being spent; also, how "secure" their systems are....!

"Once A Banker Always A Banker"!

"Mission Accomplished" - Again!

[Lady_Violina]

Not THAT prepared?
The truth is that nobody is even the slightest prepared to what eventually might happen with cybersecurity worldwide!

[femtobeam]

You are right Lady Violina. The most obvious is the lack of understanding about what the problems are and what is needed to overcome them. The problems are competition for a market share of knowledge from people that leads to economic domination, achieved through coordinated efforts mostly by China on all fronts to achieve this goal. Achieving it means domination of the electromagnetic spectrum which is optical. Optical is far faster than digital and therefore is the key to all things. The focus on computers and digital networks is like a wagon to a spaceship when it is related to a digital versus optical ability. Where the two meet, slowed down by the digits, one has a DOC (digital optical computer). The focus on "sharing and collaboration" is the most dangerous of all policies. This has already been done whether we wanted it to happen or not... by state sponsored pirates in China. THEY ALREADY HAVE THE INFORMATION. The race is on in a new Weapon of Mass Destruction... access to the human brain and all it's nerve endings, couched in the "opportunity" words of neuromarketers and the mind control objectives of large multinational corporate giants. President Obama will not be able to obtain cooperation from them and their activities without forcing them to comply. Bush tried it and they denied a turnover of records claiming privacy issues. Meanwhile it is they, not the government who were eavesdropping on scientists and selling time to their overseas partners and clients. It amounted to government sponsored theft of IP from small businesses and inventors. My question is how will President Obama be able to fulfill his duty to protect and defend the people of the United States without some way to monitor what is happening to them so one can detect and prevent intrusions? The privacy, security and freedom of speech issues are at a crossroads when it comes to cybersecurity. It is not about your computer only any more, nor the internet. It is about broadband of all kinds and access to your neurons. After much thought on the issue, the worst thing that can happen is a competition involving human subjects for another federal giveaway while China sits by waiting for the data to be completed so they can hack into it and build another botnet, this time of brains integrated with computers. We are not at all prepared for this. It is an emergency and should be treated like one, directed by the President with long term professionals who understands the subjects entirely, not a policy maker. We need a Cyber Project no less than the Manhattan Project in importance and the President should retract his statement about monitoring the networks. There is no other way to obtain the information about attacks on citizens who are being individually targeted, through the commercial networks.