Hacker Jeff Moss: Inter-agency turf war plagues cybersecurity effort
Friday, October 16, 2009
U.S. cybersecurity efforts have been fraught with turf battles and competition between the National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for top-flight personnel, DefCon founder Jeff Moss said in an interview with CNET News.
Moss, a professional hacker who earlier this year was appointed as a cybersecurity advisor on the Homeland Security Advisory Council, told CNET that NSA's historic role in protecting U.S. cyberspace has made it difficult for DHS to recruit people to its own efforts to protect domestic government computers.
"[NSA] generally usually win in the recruiting battles. They've got a lot of talent over there and DHS needs some of that talent and they need some of that expertise," Moss said. "So there's some sort of working arrangement being sorted out where until DHS can get their own talent pool sorted out NSA will send people over."
Moss also said the government's system for alerting civilians to a terrorist attack or other national emergency is inadequate. He suggested using Twitter, MySpace and social networks for distributing information.
The role of a White House cyber czar should also be one of a coordinator between the intelligence agencies, the military and civilian agencies, Moss said.
Melissa Hathaway, the former White House cybersecurity director, resigned in August and is now an adjunct to the Harvard Kennedy School's cybersecurity initiative.
Related News:
March Madness latest threat to web security - 3.15.2010
The moment the 65-team field for the 2010 NCAA Divsion I Men's Basketball Tournament became public, cyber criminals began their latest attacks on web security.
Banks boost web security with new program - 3.15.2010
A new program designed by web security provider Trusteer allows banks to remotely access computers of its online banking users to investigate potential web and network security breaches.
Estonian cyber criminal jailed for targeting web security - 3.12.2010
The author of the Allaple malware strain that targeted local insurance firms and scores of other websites recently received a prison sentence of nearly three years. Arthur Boiko, a 44-year-old man from Estonia, pled not guilty to the charges, but a jury found him guilty after prosecutors claimed he sought revenge against the insurance company that denied his claim.
Small businesses need stronger web security - 3.11.2010
Cyber criminals have increased efforts to target the bank accounts of small businesses because they frequently do not have the web security measures in place that larger companies do, according to David Nelson of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
UK bankers struggle with online fraud - 3.11.2010
Online banking fraud cost bankers in the UK the equivalent of nearly $90 million in 2009, according business technology website Silicon.com.
|
