This is the second part in a series concerning the Cybersecurity Act of 2009. s773. As per request I have broken a large single page into sections. If you liked it the other way let me know. Please forgive my use of the term -cyber-, and any other marketing buzzwords. I’m just reflecting the terminology used.
s.773 Cybersecurity Act of 2009 part 2.
The relationship between the national intelligence agencies, and the private information technology sector has long since been consummated. There exists a tight federal and private partnership, with the majority of intelligence work being outsourced from the federal level to the corporate. This legislation is nothing more then a formality. It makes the partnership public knowledge, and gives the intelligence industrial complex an official voice in the white house.
SEC. 3. CYBERSECURITY ADVISORY PANEL.
(a) IN GENERAL- The President shall establish or designate a Cybersecurity Response Advisory Panel.
(b) QUALIFICATIONS- The President–
(1) shall appoint as members of the panel representatives of industry, academic, non-profit organizations, interest groups and advocacy organizations, and State and local governments who are qualified to provide advice and information on cybersecurity research, development, demonstrations, education, technology transfer, commercial application, or societal and civil liberty concerns; and
(2) may seek and give consideration to recommendations from the Congress, industry, the cybersecurity community, the defense community, State and local governments, and other appropriate organizations.
The President will select people who are qualified to provide advice and information on cybersecurity research, development, demonstrations, education, technology transfer, commercial application, or societal and civil liberty concerns.
This is quite a broad section of potential appointees. There is no mention about how the selection process would be carried out, or what makes one person more qualified then another to serve on the panel. The President is neither qualified to carry out the selection process, nor able to comprehend the details of recommendations given to him. Instead it would be necessary to create a “National Cyber Security Czar.” A sort of interpreter to advise the President in terms he can understand, and to give the President’s speech writer terms most people can comprehend. I suspect what we will ultimately see is the creation of a new cabinet position, a ‘Secretary of Cyberdefense’. Though it seems this has been done in the form of the National Cybersecurity Center.
US Cyber Head Quits Over Threats To Democracy
Rod Beckstrom, the head of the Department of Homeland Security’s National
Cyber Security Center, said last week he would be stepping down
effective March 13.In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Beckstrom said
the NSA “dominates most national cyber efforts” and “effectively controls
DHS cyber efforts through detailees, technology insertions and the proposed
move” of the NCSC to an NSA facility at the agency’s Fort Meade, Md.,
headquarters.
In addition to the NCSC there is also the position of White House Cybersecurity Chief. With regards to part one of this article, I feel it important to note that the acting White House Cybersecurity Chief Melissa Hathaway was Senior Advisor to the Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell and Cyber Coordination Executive, she specialized in cybersecurity strategies with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
President Obama made an announcement in regards to the nation’s cybersecurity direction. Included in this plan is the appointment of Chief Cybersecurity Coordinator. It seems they will not be going with the title ‘czar’ this go round. It makes sense for the first people to be approached for positions on the panel will be people already currently employed in the service of the government. Those quoted in the findings would be an excellent example of potential panel members. Despite the new campaign from the Department of Defense to recruit hackers out of high school, I strongly doubt there will be any application process for independent civilian admission onto the panel. With Ms. Hathaway on the inside, and her former boss on the outside, it seems that not only has the chess board been set, the game has been played and what we are seeing is the results of the match finalized and put down on paper.
Spies for Hire, US pays Carlyle Group to spy-2/3
