Today’s Washington Post shows how aggressive the Chinese have been in probing US systems and interests. There have been reports in the past that the Chinese have trained North Koreans in advanced hacking techniques. South Korea and the US experienced DDoS attacks last summer that originated in North Korea. There have also been numerous reports about repeated hacks and probes into US government networks with many of them being successful in extracting sensitive information.
Attempting to even the playing field
These state run hackers are fighting on a new front to try to level the “playing field” in the event that a shooting war breaks out. The US has the most technologically advanced military in the world. The thought is that if China, North Korea or another enemy can disrupt US military networks and critical infrastructure systems then it may give them a better chance of fighting against the US.
A flurry of preparation
Last month there were reports that NASA’s IT systems lacked thorough security systems. There is a report from yesterday that the Department of Interior failed a recent cybersecurity audit. Rod Beckstrom quit the US cybersecurity post he had been in for a few months due to political infighting. Obama has yet to name a replacement even though he has promised it is a priority of his. Department of Homeland Security and the NSA are spending huge sums of money to increase their staff and datacenters.
About Mailprotector
Mailprotector provides protection from the Chinese, North Koreans and other hackers that want to access your email systems. We block spam, viruses, Trojans, phishing attacks and other email borne malware from getting to your users and disrupting their vital communications. It’s easy to get started (and affordable too).
Senator Joe Lieberman recently announced the opening of a new Cyber Center. Homeland Security spent about $9 million for the new center. It will help better coordinate the government’s response to cyber attacks. Senator Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said legislation being drafted by his committee will require federal agencies and private companies to set up a system to share information on cyber threats.
Government lags in cyber security
The feds are playing catch up when it comes to cyber security. There have been numerous reports about coordinating efforts at various agencies to better protect the U.S. critical government and critical infrastructure. Obama has been attempting to hire a Cyber Security Czar but has been turned down by numerous executives.
About Mailprotector
Mailprotector has been providing email security for customers for nearly 10 years. It didn’t take an act of Congress to get the ball rolling either. Just an abundance of annoying junk email flooding our inboxes gave the inspiration to put a stop to that nonsense. If you’re tired of waiting on Congress, Obama and the rest of the U.S. government to get started then join us in the good fight. Mailprotector will provide protection from spam, viruses, Trojans, phishing attacks and other email borne malware from getting to your inbox.
Just in case you haven’t heard the economy has been in a bit of a rough patch. Everyone has been tightening their belts. Well, here’s a ray of sunshine. The Department of Homeland Security has been authorized by the Obama administration to hire as many as 1,000 IT security professionals over the next 3 years. Areas they will be hiring include vulnerability detection, cyber risk and strategic analysis, network and systems engineering, and much more.
Cyber Security Dream Team is the goal
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano made the announcement October 1 during remarks tied to the start of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month:
“Effective cyber-security requires all partners—individuals, communities, government entities and the private sector—to work together to protect our networks and strengthen our cyber-resiliency,” Napolitano said. “This new hiring authority will enable DHS to recruit the best cyber-analysts, developers and engineers in the world to serve their country by leading the nation’s defenses against cyber-threats.”
Join ranks soldier
So whether you’re out of work or just want a new job, update your resume, pay all your back taxes, and apply for one of these new government slots ASAP! Now, since I was kind of enough to give you a lead on your new job all I’ll ask is that you put in a good word with your rich Uncle Sam for Mailprotector’s award winning email security and Hosted Exchange 2007 services. We’ll make you look like a rock star when you show him the reports of all the spam, viruses, Trojans and other email-borne malware we’re stopping. He may even give you some of that bailout money as a bonus for doing such a great job. Now that’s kick-starting the economy!
Happy National Cyber Security Awareness Month!
Concerned citizens and privacy groups have been up in arms of late after hundreds of people have claimed they received unsolicited spam email from the White House.
The mass email written by senior presidential adviser David Axelrod contained a heavily biased message that defended President Obama’s health care proposals and encouraged supporters to help rebut criticism circulating on the Internet.
Opponents of President Obama’s health care plan who received this and other spam messages from the White House have argued that they never signed up to receive email from the White House, and have been outspoken with their concerns regarding their privacy. After a few days of silence in regards to the email list, the White House finally released an official statement to Fox News on Sunday which stated:
“The White House e-mail list is made up of e-mail addresses obtained solely through the White House Web site. The White House doesn’t purchase, upload or merge from any other list, again, all e-mails come from the White House Web site as we have no interest in e-mailing anyone who does not want to receive an e-mail,” the statement said. “If an individual received the e-mail because someone else or a group signed them up or forwarded the e-mail, we hope they were not too inconvenienced.”
Some recipients of the spam have said that they have never even browsed to the official White House Web site. The White House claims that the email may have been sent to such unwilling recipients as a result of on-line petitions from advocacy groups. On-line petitions can contain both the name and email address of the those who sign the petition, and the White House may have added the email addresses from submitted petitions to the White House distribution list.
The White House has stated that it’s Web site managers will seek out and block on-line petitions so that those who wish to receive email from the White House may sign up to do so on an individual basis only.
