Overnight Cybersecurity: WikiLeaks dumps CIA hacking docs | White House stands by Trump wiretapping claims

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 try to counter the rise in cyber threats. 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:

–WIKILEAKS DUMPS CIA DOCS: WikiLeaks on Tuesday published a massive trove of documents purportedly pertaining to the CIA’s hacking programs — the first of many document dumps the site says it has coming on the intelligence agency. The documents contain descriptions of hacking tools, engineering notes, internal communications and more. The release did not immediately appear to have included the tools themselves, and agent names have been redacted. This is the first leak from a CIA project the site is calling “Vault 7.” WikiLeaks first released an encrypted version of this batch of documents, nicknamed “Year Zero,” on Twitter late Monday. The site provided a password for the documents around 8 a.m. Tuesday, about an hour before the documents’ intended release time, due to alleged cyberattacks on the online press conference that WikiLeaks head Julian Assange tried to host in advance of the release.

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–DEM CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION: Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) is calling for an investigation into how thousands of secret documents — including CIA hacking tools — ended up in the hands of WikiLeaks. “I am deeply disturbed by the allegation that the CIA lost its arsenal of hacking tools,” said Lieu in a statement. “The ramifications could be devastating. I am calling for an immediate congressional investigation. We need to know if the CIA lost control of its hacking tools, who may have those tools, and how do we now protect the privacy of Americans,” said Lieu.  Any investigation would likely fall upon the House or Senate Intelligence committees, whose attentions are already focused on another major investigation — Russian interference in the 2016 election.

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–INTEL CHIEF VOTE DELAYED: The Senate Intelligence Committee postponed an expected vote on Trump’s pick to head the nation’s national intelligence apparatus from Tuesday to Thursday, according to an aide to Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.). The delay was a question of paperwork — lawmakers had more written questions that expected, necessitating further time for both former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats (R) to reply and for lawmakers to review the responses. Coats, a former member of the panel, is well-liked by his colleagues and is expected to sail through to a final confirmation vote. But the vote comes at a moment of intense scrutiny of the Trump administration’s handling of national security, while the intelligence community and multiple lawmakers express concern that Coats will be hamstrung by a limited role in President Trump’s national security apparatus.

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–WHITE HOUSE STANDS BY WIRETAPPING CLAIMS: White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday said that President Trump won’t withdraw his claim that former President Obama wiretapped him during the 2016 election. “Why would he withdraw it until it’s adjudicated?” Spicer asked. Spicer wouldn’t comment further during Tuesday’s briefing about whether there is evidence to support Trump’s accusation and said that the House and Senate intelligence committees should look into the president’s claim. Spicer reiterated that the intelligence committees in both chambers need to investigate both Trump’s wiretapping allegation and the leaks coming out of the White House.

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A POLICY UPDATE:

–DEMS WANT MORE GRANTS FOR STATES: A pair of Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday that would give federal grants to states to boost voting system security and increase voter access to elections.

Reps. Gerry Connolly (Va.) and Jim Langevin (R.I.) introduced the Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely (FAST) Voting Act to improve voter participation and voting system security and encourage automatic voter registration.

“Access to the ballot is fundamental to American democracy,” Connolly said in a statement. “In recent years, several states have taken action to restrict the franchise under the guise of preventing ‘voter fraud.’ America doesn’t have a voter fraud problem; we have a participation problem. Rather than erect barriers, we should be looking for innovative ways to expand the franchise and streamline the voting process.”

The bill would let states compete for federal funding to implement policy changes aimed at increasing voter access to elections and boosting voting system security. It is modeled after the Department of Education’s Race to the Top program, which provides funding for states to develop student assessments.

The Election Assistance Commission would award grants to states based on their previous reform efforts and plans for future innovation.

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A LIGHTER CLICK:

A new tool from Pinterest lets you search for items on Pinterest without even visiting the website. Recode has the story. 

A REPORT IN FOCUS:

WOMEN IN TECH WORRIED ABOUT THEIR NUMBERS: A new survey out in time for International Women’s Day found that 87 percent of women working in technology reported being at least somewhat concerned about the dearth of women working in the tech field.

ISACA, a global association of technology professionals, surveyed women currently working in the technology sector around the globe to get opinions on barriers to women in tech. Women are estimated to hold one in four technology jobs.

Respondents reported that the major barriers to females working in the technology field include a dearth in mentors and female role models, gender bias in the workplace, and wage inequality.

Seventy-five percent of women surveyed said their employer does not have a gender leadership development program, and only 8 percent reported never experiencing gender bias in the workplace.

To read the full ISACA report, click here.

WHAT’S IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

HACKER ‘DWELL TIMES’: Information security officials on Tuesday highlighted the importance of focusing on the time between when a hacker enters a network and when the intruder is expelled.

The metric, called a “dwell time,” is crucial to understanding an organization’s resilience in the wake of cyber-attacks, Rod Turk, acting chief information officer at the Department of Commerce, said at a meeting of industry experts and government officials on Tuesday.

“[Dwell time is a] really, really good metric to be looking at throughout the government in terms of making our systems resilient,” Turk said alongside industry experts at a government leadership summit in Washington hosted by Nuix, an Australia-based IT software company..

Turk’s comments were echoed by Bernard Wilson, a network intrusion program manager at the Secret Service, who said that the agency wants to be able to measure how well it works to reduce dwell time in the wake of cyberattacks.

Research released by FireEye in 2015 found that hackers spent on average 205 days inside organizations’ systems in 2014 before being detected, down from 229 the previous year.

The federal government has worked to improve data security in the wake of high-profile breaches, including the Office of Personnel Management breach disclosed in 2015 that saw Chinese hackers compromise the personal information of more than 20 million Americans.

To read the rest of our piece, click here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

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

DOJ nominee declines to back special prosecutor to probe contacts between Trump aides, Russia. (The Hill)

House Intelligence Committee sets date for first public hearing on Russian election meddling. (The Hill)

House Democrats want details on ‘improper’ contacts between White House, FBI. (The Hill)

Singapore is investing in cyber defense, new tech. (IHS Jane’s)

Three decades ago, journalists around the world freaked out about the ‘Michelangelo‘ computer virus. (Motherboard)

Boris Johnson says Russia is ‘engaged in cyber warfare.’ (The Guardian)

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