Overnight Cybersecurity: State Department reportedly eliminating cyber office | Senate Intel chief avoids White House during Russia probe | Dem pushes ‘ethical hacking’ resolution

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:

–WILL THE STATE DEPARTMENT DITCH CYBER OFFICE? Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to close an office that coordinates with other countries on cybersecurity and fold it into a bureau {mosads}focused on economic issues, Bloomberg is reporting. The move would shutter the Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, which opened under the Obama administration in 2011. The decision would be part of the department’s effort to reorganize operations and reduce bureaucratic waste, set forth by a March executive order signed by President Trump. In response to the report, a State Department official told The Hill that the “there are no predetermined outcomes” in the redesign review, which Tillerson is aiming to complete by fall. The official would not say whether closing the cyber office is under consideration. “During this process, we are committed to ensuring the department is addressing such issues in the most effective and efficient way possible,” the official said. “We are not going to get ahead of any potential outcomes.” The report follows news that the office’s current leader, Christopher Painter, who has been the department’s cybersecurity coordinator for over six years, will leave his post at the end of July.

To read the rest of our piece, click here.

–‘ETHICAL HACKING’: A Democratic lawmaker on Wednesday introduced a resolution emphasizing the need to boost the American cybersecurity workforce by supporting programs that promote “ethical hacking.”

Ethical hackers are those that hack into computer networks in order to test for security vulnerabilities without malicious or criminal intent.

Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) introduced the resolution Wednesday, which would express the sense of Congress “that the United States should support the development of programs that better prepare students for careers in cybersecurity by actively promoting ethical hacking skills.”

The federal government has long faced a dearth of cybersecurity professionals, given the difficulty of competing with the private sector. The challenge is not confined to the U.S. or the public sector; by 2020, an estimated 1.5 million cybersecurity jobs are expected to be unfilled globally.

To read the rest of our piece, click here.

 

A POLICY UPDATE:

The House Oversight Committee approved a bill that would extend efforts to help the federal government modernize its information technology.

The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) originally passed in 2015, aiming to streamline some aspects of IT acquisitions and encourage better practices, including consolidating federal data centers. But many of the rules in that bill will sunset soon.

The FITARA Enhancement Act, approved by the panel Wednesday, would eliminate the end date for rules that require risk assessments for IT investments and reviews of IT investments for efficiency and waste. Those rules were originally set to expire in December 2019.

And it would add two years to the rules concerning consolidating data centers, which were originally slated to expire in October.

“The sunset provisions that were contained were predicated on the belief agencies could be whipped into shape and that the tasks were possible to complete in that time period,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), author of both FITARA and the Enhancement Act, told The Hill.

Before FITARA passed, he noted, the Committee was told that agencies had 1,100 data centers, which the bill aimed to reduce to 275.

“What we discovered after the bill passed was there were actually 11,000 data centers. You can’t do ten times as big a job in the same amount of time,” he said.

Connolly also placed some blame on the Trump White House for stalling progress in the IT space.

“We don’t have a federal chief information officer or a federal chief technology officer, and only half the agencies have CIOs [chief information officers]. It’s been seven months, and that has to change,” he said.

To read the rest of our piece, click here.

 

A LIGHTER CLICK: 

IN RUSSIA, FIDGET SPINS YOU. Russian media is worried fidget spinners might “zombify” youth.

 

A REPORT IN FOCUS:

STEAL LIKE A VALEDICTORIAN: Researchers at Digital Shadows uncovered a six-week program to help better steal credit cards.

The WWH-CLUB video course is 20 classes long, and costs $200 dollars on the dark web. It promises that, with as little as 10-12 hours a week of work, card thieves (known as carders) could earn as much as $3,000 a week.

Though flimsy ebooks explaining all aspects of hacking flood criminal markets, WWH-CLUB is a unique attempt at disrupting the industry.

 

WHO’S IN THE SPOTLIGHT:

RICHARD BURR: The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday said that he would avoid trips to the White House while the committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is ongoing.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) presided over the Senate floor while his Republican colleagues went to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to talk about healthcare. He was spotted with his lunch in hand and preparing to take the elevator while his colleagues gathered in front of the Capitol.

Pressed on whether he was making a policy of staying away during the panel’s politically sensitive probe, he indicated that he was.

“I’ll make it a habit while this investigation is going on that I don’t go down [to the White House],” Burr said.

A clandestine trip to the White House ultimately sunk the leadership of his counterpart in the House, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).

To read the rest of our piece, click here.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

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

Opinion: “Trump says anyone would collude, but in 2000 election, I called the FBI.” (The Hill)

Researchers discover Segway hoverboards have a major cybersecurity flaw. (Infosecurity Magazine)

Britain approved the sale of spy surveillance tech to Turkey while its leader cracked down on civil rights. (Motherboard).

Russian names may be too complicated for many Americans to follow the Russia controversy, argued a reporter. (Washington Post).

The DarkHotel hacking group has returned with a new attack method. (BitDefender)

Malicious advertisement group ProMediad also has a new trick up its sleeve. (Trend Micro)

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