This article is about two executive orders President Obama signed to strengthen The United States government defensed against cyber-attacks and to protect the personal information the government keeps about the citizens of the country. The article also include information about how a budget was passed to upgrade the country’s technology, one example was how one social security department system were still using COBOL. The article also mentions that President Obama created two new entities, Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, made up of business technology, national security and law enforcement leaders and Federal Privacy Council, which will include chief privacy officers from 25 federal agencies. These moves will be used to help the private and public sector deal with the increasing cyber security threats that companies and government deal with every day.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/02/09/obama-signs-two-executive-orders-cybersecurity/80037452/
Brent,
Great article. I also read that Obama appointed the first Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the federal government. This is definitely a time in which cyber crime starts to play a vital role in our national security. Cyber war crimes are prevalent by Middle East countries trying to hijack systems here in the US to gain intelligence.
I thought that was a great move by the President. I am glad they are taking this serious protecting the information of our citizens
This new was all over the internet. It seems like Obama starts to pay attention on cyber crime after what happened to Hilary Clinton. For short term, they should worry about if hackers attack on election day. For long term, they need to prepared for cyber way because nowadays information is more valuable than anything else. It is great to see that president begins to consider cyber security as an important factor.
I agree I think it was an awesome move by the president, creating the two groups to bringing the top minds and leaders to discuss strategy on keeping our information safe
Maybe it’s just me, but asking the government to provide guidance to private industry on cyber security is suspect at best. Government systems are some of the least well maintained systems in the country. They are far behind industry on patching and hardening, and there testers often have there hands tied as they are required to use government built tools rather that tapping in the open source community. Guess we’ll see.
Wade
I think its important to look at the motivations of each organization. The new government entities will have a mission to protect data first, while in business the first mission for security will still be protecting shareholder value. Considering that we have read news of companies hiding massive data leaks often for years, it may be time to have an organization that can help. It seems like they are setting up a knowledge repository more than a regulatory body which should help some companies that can’t afford the resources of larger ones. The government is also throwing a giant pile of money at the problem which can lead to good ideas sometimes.
Although an executive order to modernize our systems to increase their security is a step in the right direction, this is way overdue. In 2015 the Office of Personnel Management leaked 21.5 million government employee records containing personal information. In the private sector, this would be unacceptable and organizations would be faced with hefty regulatory fines and penalties. In this case, the Director of OPM was forced to resign, but I don’t think our government officials are held accountable for security. Again, this is a necessary executive order, but this way overdue and will take years to implement.