OVERNIGHT CYBERSECURITY: Calls grow for firings over hack

Welcome to OVERNIGHT CYBERSECURITY, your daily rundown of the biggest news in the world of hacking and data privacy. We’re here to connect the dots as leaders in government, policy and industry wrap their arms around cyberthreats. What lies ahead for Congress, the administration and the latest company under siege? Whether you’re a consumer, a techie or a D.C. lifer, we’re here to give you …

THE BIG STORIES:

–WILL HEADS ROLL?: The Capitol Hill calls for firings over a massive government data breach started in earnest Tuesday. Over three bruising hours in a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing lawmakers tore into officials from the Office of Personnel Management, which was compromised by suspected Chinese hackers. The intrusion has potentially exposed up to 14 million people’s sensitive data. Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) left the hearing unimpressed by the agency’s director and chief information officer. “They weren’t garnering much support and certainly weren’t exuding confidence,” Chaffetz told reporters. “It’s time for them to resign, and if they don’t, I think the president should fire them.” To read more about Chaffetz’s comments, click here. To read our piece on the OPM’s defense of its officials, click here.

{mosads}–WHAT’D THEY SAY?: During Tuesday’s hearing on the OPM hack, administration officials repeatedly rebuffed lawmakers’ questions about the scope of the breach, maintaining that the answers were better suited for a confidential briefing later that day. But exiting the Tuesday afternoon briefing, lawmakers indicated they hadn’t learned a whole lot during the classified briefing. “Quite frankly, I didn’t hear much classified in the classified briefing,” Chaffetz said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of information there.” Questions are swirling about exactly who and what information is affected by the breach. Speculation is that all federal employees, military and intelligence community personnel, government contractors and even friends, roommates and family members named in background checks are at risk. “I think employees of the federal government are going to be dealing with this for years,” Chaffetz said. To read our full piece, click here.

–BIG LEAGUE BREACH?: Employees of the St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly under federal investigation for hacking databases belonging to the Houston Astros. The employees, who have not been named, are alleged to have hacked into a database used by the Astros to track player development. The database was developed by a former Cardinals executive who had left to join the Houston team. Cardinals employees allegedly used a list of master passwords belonging to the executive from his time with the team to access the system. To read our full piece, click here.

AN UPDATE ON CYBER POLICY:

–CYBER BELLS AND WHISTLES. Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) on Tuesday introduced an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill aimed at bolstering the federal cybersecurity workforce. The add-on resembles a bill the two lawmakers backed last Congress. “This amendment will create a consistent framework for identifying and filling critical cybersecurity positions and is a vital step toward ensuring federal agencies can recruit top cybersecurity talent to help defend against foreign hackers and terrorists,” Bennet said in a statement.

–FIRST RESPONSE SECURITY. Lawmakers pressed officials at a Tuesday hearing about the security of a nascent network for emergency first responders. “We have a unique opportunity as we develop a network that’s going to be deployed that we can start from the beginning and bake in security from day one,” said TJ Kennedy, the acting executive director of FirstNet. FirstNet, an independent segment of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), was conceived after the September 11 attacks, when many first responders had incompatible communication systems. It was authorized by Congress in 2012. To read our full piece, click here.

A LIGHTER CLICK:

–OH, NOW I GET IT. After four years, Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel finally got around to explaining the disappearing message service in an odd, dimly-lit YouTube video. Per TechCrunch: “In it, he uses a sketchpad, a Sharpie and some secret knowledge to explain why younger demographics of users love Snapchat and to explain why the app has one of the more confusing design schemes in existence.” Read on here.

WHO’S IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

–SENATE MAJORITY WHIP JOHN CORNYN (R-TEXAS), who’s become more of a cyber player in wake of the GOP’s failed attempts to link the language of an anti-hacking bill to the defense authorization measure currently being debated. For the second time in as many weeks, the lawmaker took to the floor to blast Democrats for blocking the bill — intended to boost the exchange of public-private data on hackers — from being attached to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). “While our nation’s public servants are having their personal, sensitive personal information stolen, the Democratic leader led nearly all of his colleagues to block sensible bipartisan legislation that was focused on that specific threat,” Cornyn said. To read our full piece, click here.

A LOOK AHEAD:

WEDNESDAY

–The House Energy and Commerce Committee will vote at 10:00 a.m. on the DOTCOM Act.

–The House Appropriations Committee will vote at 10:00 a.m. on an appropriations bill that could block the FCC’s net neutrality rules.

–The American Institute for Contemporary German Studies will host a lunch and discussion on “Privacy and Security: A Comparative Constitutional Law Conversation.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Links from our blog, The Hill, and around the Web.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) on Tuesday accused a major government contractor that performs background checks of refusing to appear before Congress as questions swirl about whether hackers used information stolen from the company to infiltrate federal networks. (The Hill)

House lawmakers defied a White House veto threat on Tuesday, passing an annual intelligence policy bill including a handful of controversial provisions. (The Hill)

A Senate subcommittee on Tuesday approved a $47.1 billion bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard and other agencies in fiscal 2016. (The Hill)

The historic theft of millions of government workers’ data was “honorable espionage work” and a “legitimate foreign intelligence target,” according to former CIA Director Michael Hayden. (The Hill)

Bitcoin surged by as much as 7 percent on Tuesday and was on track for its longest winning streak in 18 months. (Reuters)

Inside Obama’s stealth startup, which doesn’t have a name, but is 140 people strong. (Fast Company)

Google expanded its security rewards program to include bugs in Android devices. (VentureBeat)

As many as 600 million Samsung phones may be vulnerable to attacks that allow hackers to make the phone a remote bugging device. (ArsTechnica)

What does it mean when a password manager gets hacked? (Slate)

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