SEC IDENTIFIES WAYS TO PROTECT ONLINE INVESTMENT ACCOUNTS

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

The Securities and Exchange Commission today released publications that address cybersecurity at brokerage and advisory firms and provide suggestions to investors on ways to protect their online investment accounts.

“Cybersecurity threats know no boundaries.  That’s why assessing the readiness of market participants and providing investors with information on how to better protect their online investment accounts from cyber threats has been and will continue to be an important focus of the SEC,” said SEC Chair Mary Jo White.  “Through our engagement with other government agencies as well as with the industry and educating the investing public, we can all work together to reduce the risk of cyber attacks.”

One publication, a Risk Alert from the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), contains observations based on examinations of more than 100 broker-dealers and investment advisers.  The examinations focused on how these firms:

Identify cybersecurity risks
Establish cybersecurity policies, procedures, and oversight processes
Protect their networks and information
Identify and address risks associated with remote access to client information, funds transfer requests, and third-party vendors
Detect unauthorized activity

“Our examinations assessed a cross-section of the industry as a way to inform the Commission on the current state of cybersecurity preparedness,” said OCIE Director Andrew Bowden.  “We hope that investors and industry participants will also benefit from what we have learned.”

The second publication, an Investor Bulletin issued by the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA), provides core tips to help investors safeguard their online investment accounts, including:

Pick a “strong” password
Use two-step verification
Exercise caution when using public networks and wireless connections
“As investors increasingly use web-based investment accounts, it is critical that they take steps to safeguard those accounts,” said OIEA Director Lori J. Schock.  “This bulletin provides everyday investors with a set of useful tips to help protect themselves from cyber-criminals and online fraud.”

GEN. DEMPSEY SAYS CYBERCOM BECOMMING MORE PROMINENT

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Dempsey: Cybercom Likely to Continue Gaining Prominence

By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2013 - U.S. Cyber Command, currently a subunified command under U.S. Strategic Command, likely will one day become a separate command, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.


Noting that the cyber threat will only continue to grow, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told attendees at a Brookings Institution forum that he anticipates a day when operations in cyberspace become a dominant factor in military operations.

"But, at this point, Stratcom, with its global reach responsibilities, as well as its space responsibilities, is also able to manage the workload that comes with being the next senior headquarters to Cybercom," the chairman said. "I'm actually content [with] the way we're organized right now."

The chairman noted that the national effort to protect critical civilian infrastructure lags behind the military's efforts to secure its own networks, largely because information about cyber threats isn't being shared with the government.

"Right now, threat information primarily runs in one direction: from the government to operators of critical infrastructure," he said. Changing this will require legislation, he added.

The nation's top military officer said he's confident that indicators of an impending attack can be shared in a way that preserves the privacy, anonymity, and civil liberties of network users.

Cybercom will assume a new importance when that conduit opens, the chairman said. "If we get the kind of information sharing we need, that could be a catalyst for changing the organization, because the span and scope of responsibility will change," he explained.

DOD COMMUNICATIONS CHALLENGES OUTLINED

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Official outlines challenges in securing DOD communications

by Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service

6/13/2013 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The threat of a cyberattack that would disrupt or deny connectivity is one of many information technology challenges the Defense Department faces, the Pentagon's chief information officer said here June 12.

"There's nothing that we do in DOD from the standpoint of mission security that does not rely on connectivity," Terri Takai told an audience of private-sector leaders and government information technology communities at the FedTalks 2013 conference.

Everyone seems to take connectivity for granted, Takai said, but maintaining it requires security measures, and a cyberattack could circumvent those measures.

"We have to think about how we will operate when that connectivity is disrupted or denied," she said.

It's an enormous challenge. With a budget of $39 billion spread across all four military branches and 40 defense agencies, Takai is charged with providing secure communications for the entire military.

"I support over 3.3 million people," she said. "We're located in 153 countries, and many of those countries are a challenge for being able to get connectivity. And then we're probably in more than 6,000 locations all over the world."

In addition to cyber threats, Takai said, the Defense Department's information technology community also must work through shrinking budgets, challenges posed by nations or groups that DOD partners with, and changing missions.

For example, she said, the Defense Department's shift toward the Asia-Pacific region means fewer U.S assets on the ground and more in the air and at sea. This requires new arrangements for a range of communications, including increased use of satellites, both government and commercial.

"It changes the dynamics of the way we look at how we provide communication capabilities," Takai said, and new partners in the region will have to be included in secure communications networks.

"That's a whole different group of countries to work with," she added, "and for me it's a whole different set of countries to be thinking about, 'How am I going to connect in a very secure way?'"

U.S. MILITARY AND CYBER THREATS

Graphic Credit:  U.S. Air Force.

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Military Works to Counter Cyber Threats
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2013 - The United States military is working diligently to beef up cyber defenses against all threats, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said here today.

In a meeting with Pentagon reporters, Little said the United States believes in an all-of-government approach to cybersecurity, which includes diplomatic, economic and military measures.

The U.S. government "will continue to draw upon the capabilities of all our agencies and departments to strengthen our cyber defenses," he added.

Recent attention has focused on China since a private firm accused a Chinese army unit in Shanghai of launching cyberattacks against U.S. firms. Little declined to comment on the allegation, saying the Pentagon does not comment on intelligence matters. But he noted that Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta raised concerns about cyber issues during his visit to the nation last year.

"We have repeatedly raised our concerns at the highest levels about cyber theft with Chinese officials, including the military, and we will continue to do so," Little said.

The United States is a target of cyberattacks from around the world, the press secretary noted.

"I'm not commenting on any particular state actor," he said. "We see cyber threats emanate from a number of places. We have discussed the cyber threat with many countries around the world."

The U.S. publication "Chinese Military Power" said the U.S. government "appeared to be the target of intrusions, some of which appear to have originated within the People's Republic of China. These intrusions were focused on exfiltrating information."

U.S. ARMY CYBER COMMANDER DISCUSSES TRANSFORMATION

Lt. Gen. Rhett A. Hernandez, commanding general for the Army Cyber Command, discusses the Army’s transformation to a joint-information environment during a Cyber and LandWarNet panel at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting.
 

FROM: U.S. DELPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
ARMED WITH SCIENCE
by jtozer
ARCYBER Working To Build Joint-Info Environment

The opportunities and challenges cyberspace presents have changed not only the way the world operates, but also the
Army, service officials said Tuesday.

Army leaders addressed the growing arena of cyberspace and the threats it presents during the "Cyber Domain and LandWarNet: Powering the Army" panel at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting.

"(Cyber) threats are real, growing, sophisticated and evolving," said Lt. Gen. Rhett A. Hernandez, commanding general for the Army Cyber Command. He led the panel, which discussed the Army’s transformation to a joint-information environment.

Collectively, the cyber threats facing the Army create a "dynamic and dangerous" environment, Hernandez said. The force has had to change the way it thinks about cyberspace to continue to guarantee versatility, agility and depth to "prevent, shape and win," he explained.

To prevent conflict, the Army needs to deter and influence potential enemies through a modernized force ready to conduct a full range of cyberspace operations, Hernandez continued. If prevention fails, the Army needs to be ready to rapidly apply its combined arms capabilities to win.

"In cyberspace, the significant advantage will go to the side that can protect and secure critical information as well as gain and exploit advantages," he said.

Chief Information Officer and G-6 Lt. Gen. Susan S. Lawrence agreed, stating that the current cyber operational environment is disjointed and difficult to mobilize or integrate, and the Army cannot afford to continue to operate in that environment.

The joint information environment the Army is working toward will be key in maintaining dominance in the cyber arena, Lawrence said.

It will provide the ability to deploy with little to no notice into any theater; allow installations to be used as docking stations, which will enable soldiers to take their technology and train anywhere; it will allow a modernized force from the "strategic core" to the "tactical edge" and provide a single, secure network with centralized management and decentralized execution, she said.

said.
"We have got to able to, in any type of combat or spectrum of operations, have technology overmatch against any enemy, and getting to this environment will allow us to do that," Lawrence said.
The G-6 is aligning LandWarNet with the joint information environment, working toward a single, secure-based, versatile environment that is ready to deploy at any time. , Lawrence said the four lines of operation the G-6 is working through are:
– building technological capacity
– improving cyber security
– providing enterprise services to the tactical edge
– enforcing network standards

"Our energy is shifting to an active defense while moving us to a joint information environment, which will strengthen our ability to operate and defend our networks," Hernandez said.

The cyberspace environment requires quite a bit of support from throughout the Army. Lt. Gen. Mary A. Legere, deputy chief of staff for the G-2, was on hand to discuss Army’s intelligence role.

"(Intelligence) provides the kinds of capabilities necessary to support the mission," Legere said, "and the kinds of capabilities that General Hernandez needs to defend the networks and, as required, to conduct full-spectrum operations on behalf of other Army commanders are quite unique. They aren’t something we have parked in motor pools."

The community’s job is to develop an intelligence corps that has the right capabilities, and develop cyber forces that are appropriate to the mission in the cyber domain, she said.
"It is a conscious development of some of the brightest and most skilled soldiers and civilians we’ve ever attempted to create," Legere said.
"The reality is this is a very dynamic, challenging environment that we’re in and it’s going to require a kind of agility we’ve never seen before, machine-to-machine agility — soldiers and leaders that are capable of making quick decisions and policies that are responsive," Legere said.

Another key organization in supporting Cyber Command is the Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command.

Cyberspace and space are separate domains, Lt. Gen. Richard P. Formica, SMDC, explained, but they are linked. Space enables the delivery of cyber signals, while cyberspace supports space operations through enabling payloads of systems. They both rely on the intelligence community and the joint information environment.

"They are both information-centric and information-enabled and they share network systems, and in some cases physical infrastructures. As I said, both Space and Cyber are global warfighting domains with distinctive space and cyber military activities that occur in those domains," Formica said.

"I don’t envision a cyber war, or a space war, but rather the delivery and application of both space and cyber effects in support of joint and unified land operations," he said.

By Jacqueline M. Hames

PANETTA CRITICAL OF STALLED CYBERSECURITY LEGISLATION

U.S. Cyberbrigade.  Credit:  U.S. DOD.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Panetta 'Disappointed' as Cyber Legislation Stalls
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is "disappointed" that an effort to move pending cybersecurity legislation forward failed in the Senate yesterday, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

Little, traveling with Panetta in the Asia-Pacific region, issued a statement after the Senate rejected by a 51-47 vote a procedural motion by Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins to move the legislation forward.

"Secretary Panetta was disappointed to learn that the Senate failed to move forward on the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which would have enhanced our nation's ability to protect itself against cyber threats, which are growing at an alarming rate," Little said.

Cyberattacks threaten to have crippling effects on America's critical infrastructure and its government and private-sector systems, he added.

"The U.S. defense strategy calls for greater investments in cybersecurity measures, and we will continue to explore ways to defend the nation against cyber threats," Little said. "New legislation would have enhanced those efforts. If the Congress neglects to address this security problem urgently, the consequences could be devastating."