cybersecurity

WASHINGTON — The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security announced on Wednesday it would institute new export controls over cybersecurity items such as cyber intrusion software that can be used maliciously. The department’s new policy also creates a... Read More

WASHINGTON -- If everyone were to employ proper cyber hygiene like multi-factor authentication or not clicking on links in phishing emails, more than 85% of cyberattacks would be prevented, said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, Thursday.  “The best hack is the... Read More

North American governments should come together to create a trilateral strategy to assess and address threats in a holistic risk-based approach to cybersecurity that includes a minimum set of standards, said three experts yesterday. As much as the pandemic has... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Identity authentication is taking a front-and-center role in the administration's approach to ensuring robust cybersecurity across the U.S. government, according to Carole House, director of cybersecurity and secure digital Innovation at the White House National Security Council.  It... Read More

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — As a member of the secretive Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Angus King has reason to worry about hackers. At a briefing by security staff this year, he said he got some advice on how to help... Read More

WASHINGTON -- As the international blame game over ransomware heats up this week, the U.S. government is scrambling for solutions with increasingly combative strategies. Legislation that won tentative approval in Congress on Monday anticipates a bigger role for the U.S.... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that damage to U.S. businesses in the biggest ransomware attack on record appears minimal, though information remained incomplete. The company whose software was exploited said fewer than 1,500 businesses worldwide appeared compromised... Read More

WASHINGTON - Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm requested $201 million in additional funds to fortify her department’s cybersecurity defenses in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Granholm’s request came in response to a ransomware attack on an... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Blue Dog Coalition of House Democrats is calling on its congressional colleagues to approve the Biden administration’s $753 billion defense spending request for Fiscal Year 2022, saying the proposed $12.3 billion increase over last year will better... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office issued a report this week addressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the Department of Defense inventory management systems used to manage the national defense supply chain. Risks in six inventory management systems run by the Defense... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday unanimously adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry intended to secure the nation’s communications networks against cyberattacks. With seven ransomware attacks per hour in 2020, a total of 65,000,... Read More

WASHINGTON — The rise in profit-driven cyberattacks has prompted Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., to contemplate a mandatory reporting bill so law enforcement can promptly take action on urgent threats. Warner told Axios recently that he... Read More

WASHINGTON - As Congress edges closer to putting a final infrastructure bill on President Joe Biden’s desk, it looks like lawmakers and the White House are aligned in their commitment to bolster U.S. cybersecurity through increased federal investment, focusing on... Read More

Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y. recently went into a couple of Lincoln car dealerships in Syracuse, New York, but “neither one of them had any cars.”  “And they’re not going to have any cars for several weeks because of the chip... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Testimony at a congressional hearing Wednesday on last month’s Colonial Pipeline Co. ransomware attack demonstrated that a bigger role for the federal government is coming soon to protect private computer networks. The Georgia-based company’s chief executive officer admitted... Read More

WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm would like to see more public-private cooperation on cyber defenses and said U.S. adversaries already are capable of using cyber intrusions to shut down the U.S. power grid. "I think that there are very... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. pipeline operators will be required for the first time to conduct a cybersecurity assessment under a Biden administration directive in response to the ransomware hack that disrupted gas supplies in several states this month. The Transportation... Read More

“Make no mistake, our adversaries want to divide us to conquer us,” warned Erin Joe, section chief of the private sector office of the FBI, noting that nation-states like Russia, North Korea, Iran, and China are deploying daily cyberattacks against... Read More

Last year saw an increase of 20% in cyberattacks against organizations, said James Turgal, vice president of Optiv, during the first day of the CyberSatDigital conference. The most common attack, with over 184 million reported last year, is known as... Read More

WASHINGTON — In a covert operation to undercut hacking groups’ attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s Exchange email program, the FBI has begun accessing hundreds of vulnerable computers in the United States to remove malicious web shells.  Web shells, interfaces... Read More

WASHINGTON - As Congress continues to worry about the nation’s cybersecurity, a key high-ranking military witness during a Senate hearing Wednesday said he was “concerned about the pace” of building an adequate cybersecurity workforce.  When Congress tasked the Department of... Read More

WASHINGTON — Microsoft is placing the blame for a hack on its email software on China after President Joe Biden called on allied nations to create a new set of rules governing cybersecurity threats across the globe. It is believed... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A congressional hearing Friday showed that foreign computer hackers are facing a growing likelihood of counterattack from the United States as a result of the SolarWinds software breach. Lawmakers and computer industry officials agreed the hackers must face... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jolted by a sweeping hack that may have revealed government and corporate secrets to Russia, U.S. officials are scrambling to reinforce the nation's cyber defenses and recognizing that an agency created two years ago to protect America's... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Cybersecurity experts suggested to a congressional committee Wednesday that lawmakers act quickly to address growing threats from hackers. They mentioned the SolarWinds computer infiltration by the Russians last year and a hacker’s attempt to poison a Florida municipal... Read More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A hacker's botched attempt to poison the water supply of a small Florida city is raising alarms about just how vulnerable the nation's water systems may be to attacks by more sophisticated intruders. Treatment plants... Read More

WASHINGTON — Dramatic changes in the workforce and service delivery have posed unique security challenges over the last year. Evolving technologies are accommodating training and remote work, but new cybersecurity threats continue to emerge.  In the last few years, directives... Read More

Recent cyberattacks on U.S. federal systems point to the need to make the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency the "centralizing authority system" for the nation, said Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., during a fireside chat at the State of Net Conference. That... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The elite Russian hackers who gained access to computer systems of federal agencies last year didn't bother trying to break one by one into the networks of each department. Instead, they got inside by sneaking malicious code into a... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., is urging House leadership to schedule a classified, bipartisan briefing for members of Congress regarding the recently revealed cyberattack on the networks of the federal government and major American companies. The attack is widely... Read More