• Report: Private sector can better prepare for cyber attack risks

    New expert panel report suggests shifting control of corporate cyber infrastructures from IT departments to chief financial officers

  • New IRS computer systems vulnerable.

    The IRS is spending nearly $2 billion on two new systems which would more effectively handle the tax returns filed by $142 million Americans; Treasury IG finds vulnerabilities in both systems which would allow unscrupulous individuals to manipulate tax information — and do so undetected

  • FBI worried about increased cyber crime

    Head of the FBI cyber division says the number of victims of cyber crime, and the cost of that crime, are increasing; moreover, as many as two dozen countries have taken an “aggressive interest” in penetrating the networks of U.S. companies and government agencies

  • Chertoff urges industry to invest in cybersecurity

    About 85 percent of the U.S. critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private industry; DHS secretary Chertoff says this fact makes cybersecurity a shared responsibility between government and the corporations that control most computer networks

  • Briefly noted

    Quantum cryptography: As awesome as it is pointless… Smiths Detection wins $26.7 million TSA order for advanced checkpoint X-ray systems… Motorola sells biometrics arm to Safran… Aussie government approves ProtectDrive for government use

  • U.K. pauses before implementing sweeping surveillance scheme

    The U.K. government said it wanted to give law enforcement sweeping power to collect electronic data as a measure to prevent terrorism; the government now says it will engage in consultations to make sure citizens’ privacy is not violated

  • GTISC lists major 2009 cyber threats

    Georgia Tech Information Security Center releases emerging cyber threats forecast for 2009

  • Chertoff says there will be no Big Brother approach to Internet security

    Earlier this year Director of U.S. National Intelligence Mike McConnell said the government would require broad powers to monitor all Internet traffic in order to secure the U.S. critical information infrastructure; Chertoff outlines a more modest approach

  • U.S. government looking for game-changing cyberspace ideas

    With an RFI published yesterday in the Federal Register, the Bush administration has launched its Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI); initiative seeks “the most promising game-changing ideas with the potential to reduce vulnerabilities to cyber exploitations by altering the cybersecurity landscape”

  • California IT security company adds 225 jobs in Ann Arbor expansion

    Ann Arbor, Michigan, is attracting more and more IT security companies; half a dozen IT companies have already announced expansions in the Ann Arbor region this year, and their plans for Ann Arbor include the addition of nearly 1,200 jobs in the coming years

  • Briefly noted

    Early spotting of a potential IT train wreck… Getting the facts straight on cybersecurity

  • New DHS network still has problems

    HSIN was launched in 2004 to provide a secure, Internet-based system to share terrorism information with federal, state, and local agencies and the private sector, but ran into problems; last year DHS decided to replace it with a new system, but that one, too, has problems

  • ISF annual congress in Barcelona, 16-18 November

    More than 500 IT security leaders will meet in Barcelona in November for the ISF 19th annual congress

  • EU moves on data breach notification law

    Security professionals debate the recommendations of independent research to introduce tough European data breach and security regulations

  • Briefly noted

    U.S. Army signs $75 million contract for passive RFID… U.S. government to take over screening from airlines… IT security sector faces major changes… Senators propose changes at DHS