From Homeland Security NewsWire:
Infrastructure protection
CyberCom commander calls for government protection of critical infrastructure
Published 23 February 2011
General Keith Alexander, the head of the U.S. Cyber Command, is calling for the creation and implementation of a government strategy to protect critical infrastructure in the United States from cyber attacks; in a speech yesterday, General Alexander emphasized the importance of securing critical infrastructure like the stock market, the electrical grid, and power plants against cyber attacks; he sought to ease fears by assuring the audience that the government could protect critical infrastructure and preserve civil liberties; Alexander's remarks come as civil rights advocates and internet freedom groups have grown more vociferous in their criticism of a recent Senate bill that would help secure the nation's critical infrastructure from cyber attacks; supporters of the bill say that it is impossible to create an internet "kill switch" and that is not their goal
Protection requires constant monitoring // Source: kessinger.com
General Keith Alexander, the head of the U.S. Cyber Command, is calling for the creation and implementation of a government strategy to protect critical infrastructure in the United States from cyber attacks.
In remarks delivered before an audience of security professionals at the AFCEA Homeland Security Conference in Washington, D.C. yesterday (Tuesday), General Alexander emphasized the importance of securing critical infrastructure like the stock market, the electrical grid, and power plants against cyber attacks.
“We see this as something absolutely vital to the future of our country. Cybersecurity for government and critical infrastructure is key to the security of this nation and we got to do that right,” he said.
Alexander cited the massive power outages in 2003 that blanketed the East Coast in darkness and the sudden stock market crash in May 2010 that was triggered by glitches in high-frequency trading algorithms, as evidence of the potential damage that cyber attacks could have on critical infrastructure.
Alexander emphasized the fact that cyber attacks were a real threat and that the total cost of cyber crime each year was one trillion dollars globally.
In pushing for the development of a strategy to secure the government and critical infrastructure, he sought to ease fears over privacy and violations of civil liberties.
He assured the audience that, “We don’t want to be in [civilian networks]. We want to help protect it. We don’t want to spy, we want to protect you.”
He joked that so many other hackers, governments, and terrorist groups were already in civilian networks that “the only ones not in your networks today are us. There isn’t enough room for us in there.”
Alexander went on to say that the current regulatory measures and oversight committees were sufficient to protect civil liberties. He believed that the government could secure critical infrastructure and “protect civil liberties and rights” at the same time.
The general’s remarks come as civil rights advocates and internet freedom groups have grown more vociferous in their criticism of a recent Senate bill that would help secure the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.
Critics worry that the legislation would give the president an internet “kill switch” which would allow the government to cut off access to the Internet. Fears grew after former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak shut down the Internet in an effort to quell growing anti-government protests.
In a statement, Senator Joe Lieberman (I–Connecticut), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said, “We want to clear the air once and for all. As someone said recently, the term ‘kill switch” has become the ‘death panels’ of the cyber security debate. There is no so-called ‘kill switch’ in our legislation because the very notion is antithetical to our goal of providing precise and targeted authorities to the President.”
Lieberman explained that the bill is designed to improve cyber security by creating a national center to prevent and respond to cyber attacks. The bill would also require owners of critical infrastructure to address security vulnerabilities.
“This legislation applies to the most critical infrastructures that Americans rely on in their daily lives — energy transmission, water supply, financial services, for example — to ensure that those assets are protected in case of a potentially crippling cyber attack,” Lieberman said.
The senator also noted that the creation of a kill switch in the United States was impossible.
Patrick Gilmore, the chief network architect at Akamai, a technology firm that directs server traffic for the Department of Defense and the NASDAQ stock exchange, said creating this shut off button is “effectively impossible in the U.S.” and it “would take hundreds of millions of dollars to implement.”
Infrastructure protection
CyberCom commander calls for government protection of critical infrastructure
Published 23 February 2011
General Keith Alexander, the head of the U.S. Cyber Command, is calling for the creation and implementation of a government strategy to protect critical infrastructure in the United States from cyber attacks; in a speech yesterday, General Alexander emphasized the importance of securing critical infrastructure like the stock market, the electrical grid, and power plants against cyber attacks; he sought to ease fears by assuring the audience that the government could protect critical infrastructure and preserve civil liberties; Alexander's remarks come as civil rights advocates and internet freedom groups have grown more vociferous in their criticism of a recent Senate bill that would help secure the nation's critical infrastructure from cyber attacks; supporters of the bill say that it is impossible to create an internet "kill switch" and that is not their goal
Protection requires constant monitoring // Source: kessinger.com
General Keith Alexander, the head of the U.S. Cyber Command, is calling for the creation and implementation of a government strategy to protect critical infrastructure in the United States from cyber attacks.
In remarks delivered before an audience of security professionals at the AFCEA Homeland Security Conference in Washington, D.C. yesterday (Tuesday), General Alexander emphasized the importance of securing critical infrastructure like the stock market, the electrical grid, and power plants against cyber attacks.
“We see this as something absolutely vital to the future of our country. Cybersecurity for government and critical infrastructure is key to the security of this nation and we got to do that right,” he said.
Alexander cited the massive power outages in 2003 that blanketed the East Coast in darkness and the sudden stock market crash in May 2010 that was triggered by glitches in high-frequency trading algorithms, as evidence of the potential damage that cyber attacks could have on critical infrastructure.
Alexander emphasized the fact that cyber attacks were a real threat and that the total cost of cyber crime each year was one trillion dollars globally.
In pushing for the development of a strategy to secure the government and critical infrastructure, he sought to ease fears over privacy and violations of civil liberties.
He assured the audience that, “We don’t want to be in [civilian networks]. We want to help protect it. We don’t want to spy, we want to protect you.”
He joked that so many other hackers, governments, and terrorist groups were already in civilian networks that “the only ones not in your networks today are us. There isn’t enough room for us in there.”
Alexander went on to say that the current regulatory measures and oversight committees were sufficient to protect civil liberties. He believed that the government could secure critical infrastructure and “protect civil liberties and rights” at the same time.
The general’s remarks come as civil rights advocates and internet freedom groups have grown more vociferous in their criticism of a recent Senate bill that would help secure the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.
Critics worry that the legislation would give the president an internet “kill switch” which would allow the government to cut off access to the Internet. Fears grew after former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak shut down the Internet in an effort to quell growing anti-government protests.
In a statement, Senator Joe Lieberman (I–Connecticut), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said, “We want to clear the air once and for all. As someone said recently, the term ‘kill switch” has become the ‘death panels’ of the cyber security debate. There is no so-called ‘kill switch’ in our legislation because the very notion is antithetical to our goal of providing precise and targeted authorities to the President.”
Lieberman explained that the bill is designed to improve cyber security by creating a national center to prevent and respond to cyber attacks. The bill would also require owners of critical infrastructure to address security vulnerabilities.
“This legislation applies to the most critical infrastructures that Americans rely on in their daily lives — energy transmission, water supply, financial services, for example — to ensure that those assets are protected in case of a potentially crippling cyber attack,” Lieberman said.
The senator also noted that the creation of a kill switch in the United States was impossible.
Patrick Gilmore, the chief network architect at Akamai, a technology firm that directs server traffic for the Department of Defense and the NASDAQ stock exchange, said creating this shut off button is “effectively impossible in the U.S.” and it “would take hundreds of millions of dollars to implement.”
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