Overnight Cybersecurity: OPM begins new era

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:

–WHAT’S NEXT FOR OPM?: On Monday, the hacked Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had its first work day under new acting director Beth Cobert, formerly U.S. chief performance officer and deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Although it was a quiet day for the agency, Cobert has a lot on her plate. Almost immediately, she will have to negotiate a request for a budget increase sought by the agency. And over the next month, she’ll be tasked with patching security flaws in the OPM’s online security clearance system, which was pulled down in recent weeks. She’ll also be dealing with calls from Congress for the OPM to provide better identity theft monitoring services to victims of the recent data breach, which affected over 22 million people. Some lawmakers even want to take away OPM’s authority to manage the agency’s database housing background checks for security clearances, which was compromised by hackers in the attack. To read our full piece, click here.

{mosads}–DO NOT GO GENTLE: Italian company Hacking Team, the controversial seller of surveillance tools to the FBI and overseas repressive governments, vowed on Monday to push ahead despite a hack that has laid bare the company’s internal secrets, client lists and even the source code behind its powerful spying tools. The company has been scrambling to deal with the fallout after hackers last week published documents that confirmed links between the Hacking Team, U.S. authorities and regimes with poor human rights records in countries like Sudan and Ethiopia. On Monday, the firm doubled down on its relationships with governments worldwide, despite reports that its software has been used to track journalists and political dissidents. “Our technology has always been sold lawfully, and, when circumstances have changed, we have ended relationships with clients such as Sudan, Ethiopia and Russia,” said a statement attributed to Hacking Team Chief Operating Officer David Vincenzetti. To read our full piece, click here.

–AWAITING THE RESULTS: The White House is preparing a report that will summarize the results of its 30-day “cybersecurity sprint,” which came to an end over the weekend. By July 20, the administration will release a review of whether each agency accomplished the White House’s directives, which included patching critical vulnerabilities, restricting the number of people with access to privileged data, speeding up the adoption of multi-factor authentication and scanning systems for malicious activity. “Some will get there, and some won’t,” Tony Scott, the federal chief information officer (CIO), told Reuters in an interview over the weekend. “There’s probably no CIO in any federal agency now who wants to be the bottom of the list.” To read our full piece, click here.

LIGHTER CLICK:

–WE’D BE OK WITH THIS. The San Diego Union-Tribune has a comedic take on what the U.S. Department of Cybersecurity might look like, in light of the city hosting Comic-Con this weekend. Check it out here. H/t @ehackingdotnet.

WHO’S IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

–CROWDSTRIKE, who just scored a $100 million cash infusion backed by Google Capital, the Internet search giant’s investment arm. The investment is just the latest example of the big bets major tech firms are making on the cybersecurity industry, which is booming amid a deluge of hacks in both the private and public sector. Crowdstrike is perhaps best known for its reports identifying hacking groups in China, Russia and Iran. To read our full piece, click here.

A LOOK AHEAD:

WEDNESDAY

–Access will host the all-day “CryptoSummit,” starting at 8:30 a.m. Officials from the Commerce Department and Justice Department will speak on panels with industry leaders and security researchers.

–ITIF will host a debate at 9 a.m., on the question of whether technology is a “Problem Solver or Dangerous Master?”

–The Hudson Institute will hold an event at noon titled “Collaborative Governance and Security: A Stronger Internet for the Future.”

–The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing at 2 p.m. on cybersecurity at the Department of the Interior, which housed the database containing the 4.2 million personnel files that were exposed in the OPM breach.

THURSDAY

–DefenseOne will hold an event starting at 8:30 a.m. on “Anticipating the Next DOD Insider Threat.” DOD officials will speak.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

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

The filmmaker behind last year’s Oscar-winning documentary starring government leaker Edward Snowden is suing the Obama administration for keeping secret documents about her. (The Hill)

Government audits reveal that the OPM isn’t alone in its struggle to protect its computer systems. (The Washington Post)

Julius Kivimaki, the Finnish 17-year-old who hacked 50,700 devices, was found guilty, but will not face jail time. (The Washington Post)

INYMI: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed over the weekend that the Senate would take up a stalled cybersecurity bill before the August recess, although many are doubtful. (Fox News)

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