Tag Archive for: Raise

China’s technological advances raise security concerns for lawmakers, defense leaders

/in


WASHINGTON (TND) — China’s cyber capabilities are drawing more focus from Congress, U.S. defense and intelligence officials and private businesses as Washington’s relationship with Beijing becomes more adversarial amid stiff economic competition and China’s efforts to expand its influence as a world power.

While there are lingering concerns about a military conflict with China over Taiwan, many of the battles the U.S. is trying to prepare for and prevent do not involve direct altercations that lead to military warfare.

Many of the recent U.S. initiatives are related to limiting China’s access to American-made technology that can be used to advance its military objections, protecting data from falling into the Chinese government’s hands and bolstering cyber defenses amid concerns about Beijing’s advancing capabilities.

The most recent high-profile example is a Congress-led effort to ban the popular video app TikTok over its parent company’s connections to Beijing. A bill passed the House with broad bipartisan margins and President Joe Biden has pledged to sign it if it passes the Senate, which is more uncertain with questions from lawmakers about targeting a specific company and if it will address the root of the issues with TikTok.

The root of the issue with TikTok is a Chinese law that could compel ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to give Americans’ data to China’ intelligence agencies or coerce the app to use its algorithm to sway public discourse. In addition to using its algorithm to create a profile of a user to feed them content they are more likely to stay on the app and watch, people can also opt into sharing more data with TikTok through allowing access to contacts or by simply divulging it in posts on the platform.

TikTok is the most well-known and prominent example of the risks lawmakers and intelligence experts say presents a risk to Americans’ data security, but there are other problems lingering.

Among them is China’s heavy investments and capabilities with blockchain technology. Blockchain is known for its connection to cryptocurrencies but has seen its uses expand with time to cloud-based storage and other applications.

China has invested…

Source…

Air and Space Forces raise bonus amounts for technically trained cyber troops

/in


A senior airman with five years in cyber warfare is eligible for an $83,610 bonus for re-enlisting for six years, the same amount due airmen in the pararescue, combat control and tactical air control party fields.

A senior airman with five years in cyber warfare is eligible for an $83,610 bonus for re-enlisting for six years, the same amount due airmen in the pararescue, combat control and tactical air control party fields. (J.M. Eddins Jr./U.S. Air Force)

The Air Force and Space Force are prepared to pay a premium to keep their cyber-trained professionals wearing blue, according to the updated list of bonus-eligible career fields.

Released Sept. 8, that list added two cyber-related career specialties for a total of 65 careers eligible for a re-enlistment bonus, including five existing cyber fields whose bonus potentials also increased.

“This [Selective Retention Bonus] addition is an acknowledgement of extreme demand for the advanced skills and talent within the targeted cyber specialties, as well as their criticality to the future force,” Air Force spokeswomen Laurel Falls told Stars and Stripes by email Tuesday.

The largest bonus bumps within the cyber fields went to the cyber warfare and defense specialties. Airmen who re-up in those fields would receive the same amount as those in special tactics jobs, historically the riskiest jobs, whose practitioners were paid the highest bonuses.

A senior airman with five years in cyber warfare is eligible for an $83,610 bonus for re-enlisting for six years, the same amount airmen in the pararescue, combat control and tactical air control party fields.

“For some cyber specialties, cumulative individual training costs reach close to one million dollars and the unique National Defense experiences that further develop these member’s cyber proficiency are nearly incalculable,” Falls said.

The Air Force created cyber warfare operations as a career field in 2010. The career field remains open only to enlisted personnel serving in information technology professions.

Specialists in this field ensure computer networks function properly and remain secure from outside intrusion, according to the Air Force website.

Source…

Street Lights Out for Weeks in Roseland, Neighbors Raise Safety Concerns – NBC Chicago

/in 


Senior citizens living on one block in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood assert their street lights have been out for multiple weeks, and they worry the problem will cause a crash or lead to more crime.

For multiple weeks, the 113th block of Wallace Street has looked pitch black at night, except for the glow of some porch lights.

Angela Myrick, who has lived on the block for 25 years, says going out at night is limited, and nighttime visits from others are, too.

“I walked last night, but one house had a gap, you could not see at all,” she stated.

While lights on the 113th block are out, residents say if you go one block over – to the 114th block – street lights there do function. Some residents say they’ve called the city’s 311 hotline so often about the issue, dispatchers know their names.

“I have called so many times, they say, ‘ok, well get to you,’ I say ,’when,'” said resident Joseph Garrett.

“We have exhausted all of our means here, that is why we turned to NBC 5,” stated one resident.

NBC 5 reached out to the city’s Department of Transportation, which is responsible for maintain and repairing street lights, and is still awaiting a response. Ald. Carrie Austin, who represents the city’s 34th Ward, which includes the block, said she has done everything in her power to get the issue resolved.

“This is 35 days it has been going on, but not on our end, it is on 311, it is on the department’s end,” Austin said.

Until the lights are fixed, some residents say they’ll just rely on their porch lights and pray nothing happens.

“Roseland has a reputation, and it is well known, and the city is putting us in jeopardy, and I don’t like [it],” one resident said.

Source…

White House orders federal agencies to raise cybersecurity bar for national security systems

/in


New guidance will bring standards into line with federal civilian networks

White House orders federal agencies to raise cybersecurity bar for national security systems

President Biden has granted the National Security Agency (NSA) new powers to bolster the cybersecurity of US federal government computer systems related to national security.

A memorandum issued by the White House yesterday (January 19) also sets out new obligations for federal agencies and timelines for meeting them.

As prescribed by an executive order signed by Biden in May 2021, the measures will, “at minimum”, ensure that national security, Department of Defense (DoJ), and intelligence community systems adhere to the more stringent cybersecurity measures already in place for federal civilian networks.

DON’T FORGET TO READ US government launches ‘Hack the DHS’ bug bounty program

Federal agencies have been instructed to identify their national security systems and report security incidents affecting them to the NSA, the DoJ’s intelligence agency.

Mark Warner, Democrat senator for Virginia and chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, urged Congress to build on this measure by passing pending bipartisan legislation requiring critical infrastructure operators to report cyber-attacks within 72 hours.

The legislation was drafted in the wake of the SolarWinds and Colonial Pipeline hacks.

The directive also includes guidance on the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA), encryption, zero-trust architecture, and endpoint detection services.

Binding operational directives

The memo authorizes the NSA to issue ‘binding operational directives’ that oblige operators of national security systems “to take specific actions against known or suspected cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities”, reads a fact sheet.

These powers are modeled on those already wielded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in relation to civilian government networks, with one recent DHS directive ordering agencies to mitigate the far-reaching Log4j vulnerability.

The memorandum also requires that federal agencies inventory and bolster the security of ‘cross-domain solutions’, which transfer data between classified and unclassified systems.

Read more of the latest…

Source…