More action, not just talk, needed on cybersecurity

Former acting federal cybersecurity chief Melissa Hathaway used the public forum afforded her by the Internet Security Alliance yesterday to warn that the government is losing the sense of urgency it needs to tackle the many…

Does Google want NSA’s expertise or its secrecy?

In a marked contrast from the perspective presented by Ellen Nakashima in the Washington Post on Thursday — which said that in turning to the NSA for help with information security, Google was not primarily concerned…

Is Google working with the NSA a cause for concern?

In an agreement first reported in a story by the Washington Post and quickly circulated more broadly by dozens of news sources (to say nothing of bloggers and Twitters), Google will apparently seek the assistance of…

House passes new cybersecurity legislation

Today the U.S. House of Representatives voted nearly unanimously (422-5) to pass the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2009, which becomes the first and only bill actually passed among the many security-related bills under consideration in both…

Security monitoring essential to attack anticipation, even if the nature of the attack is unclear

Security analysts reported yesterday a noticeable spike in network traffic associated with the Pushdo botnet, whose computers somewhat curiously are sending large numbers of fake SSL connections to lots of high-profile websites, including those of the…

International cybersecurity begins at home

In an op-ed piece in today’s Washington Post, Harvard Law professor Jack Goldsmith notes Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s recent speech on Internet freedom and suggests that before the United States can credibly ask other countries…

Not everything Google does is related to China dispute

Without questioning the severity or significance of the Chinese attacks on Google and other companies, the huge attention focused on this incident seems to be influencing all coverage of Google, whether or not the topic in…