For Biden’s Cybersecurity Strategy, All Eyes Are on the New National Cyber Director Role
When President Joe Biden took office last week, he and his administration were immediately tasked with managing one of the largest cybersecurity failures in recent memory—a stealthy and methodical supply-chain intrusion into private companies and government agencies that has been blamed on Russia. Much of the work overseeing the response efforts will fall on a position that is not even a month old: the National Cyber Director. The first days of the Biden administration will be a make-or-break moment for the new White House posting…
‘Adopt the Adversarial Point of View:’ Cybersecurity Lessons From a National Intelligence Technology Leader
Amit Meltzer spent three decades working in Israel’s national security apparatus, including as chief technologist for Mossad, the country’s famed national intelligence agency. “The main reason I left was that my wife said: ‘Enough!’”
I caught up with Meltzer to talk about his time working in national intelligence and how it shaped his thinking on cybersecurity…
Biden’s Pick for Acting CIA Director Has a Lot To Say About Ransomware and Cybercrime
Cohen will lead the CIA as the U.S. confronts what experts say is one of the most significant cybersecurity incidents to ever target the government. Russia was recently blamed for an attack that affects potentially thousands of companies and government agencies, and cybersecurity experts say it might have been carried out by the country’s Foreign Intelligence Service, which has similar objectives to the CIA….
“Nothing in Cybersecurity Is Satisfactory:” Former Swedish PM Carl Bildt on the Need for Norms in Cyberspace
In February 1994, Carl Bildt, who was at the time serving as Prime Minister of Sweden, typed a brief two-paragraph email addressed to then-U.S. President Bill Clinton. The note congratulated Clinton on his decision to end a trade embargo on Vietnam, but also marked a historic event for the internet: It was the first known email sent between heads of government. “Sweden is—as you know—one of the leading countries in the world in the field of telecommunications, and it is only appropriate that we should be among the first to use the Internet also for political contacts and communications around the globe,” the message read.
I talked to Bildt recently about how global leaders should think about cybersecurity, and which policies and practices can help keep people safe online. To Bildt, we are often our own worst enemy: “The greatest threat is ignorance,” he said…
What It’s Like to Run a Hacking Forum: A Conversation With RaidForums Owner Omnipotent
For the last five years, RaidForums has made a name for itself for being a constant source of high-profile database leaks. RaidForums was started in 2015 by a user named Omnipotent, who still operates the site. Omnipotent talked with Recorded Future expert threat intelligence analyst Dmitry Smilyanets about why he started RaidForums and what it’s like to operate it….
‘I Was Running Two Parallel Lives’: An Ex-Secret Service Agent Opens Up About Going Undercover To Catch Cybercriminals
Until recently, Richard LaTulip was one of the Secret Service’s special agents who went undercover to better understand cybercriminals. On occasion, he would even befriend hackers. “I opened the door and there on the other side was the target standing with a liter of vodka… a gift from their home country,” he recalled. LaTulip, who left the agency in July to join the private sector, opened up about his experiences at the Secret Service in a recent interview with Recorded Future expert threat intelligence analyst Dmitry Smilyanets. The two first met in 2012, when Smilyanets himself was interviewed by LaTulip in relation to his involvement in a major data breach investigation….
How Cybersecurity Will Change in 2021
We’re going to be powering up machines that have been touched for a year. Organizations might want to think twice before putting out a big PR release that they’re going back to the office on a certain date. Figuring out how to get machines patched and inoculating employees against phishing before returning to the office is going to be important…
Former Israeli CERT Chief: ‘A Cheap Incident Response Costs A Lot’
As the executive director of Israel’s National Computer Emergency Response Center, or CERT, Lavy Shtokhamer dealt with more cyberattacks in a week than many information security professionals would see in a year. The Center acted as a hub for information sharing and response in the country, with victims constantly informing Shtokhamer and his team of new incidents, which would then be anonymized and relayed to other companies and government organizations to help protect them from the similar attacks. Last week, I caught up with Shtokhamer via video conference—he will be taking on a new role in the coming days, and was open to talking about his experience in the Israeli government…
Ridding Hackers From Government Networks Will Be “Highly Complex and Challenging,” CISA Warns
The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Thursday issued its most urgent and detailed alert yet about the hacking campaign that has rocked government agencies and technology firms in recent days, saying that it “poses a grave risk” to federal and state governments, critical infrastructure entities, and private sector organizations. Additionally, CISA said it has evidence of additional attack vectors other than the SolarWinds Orion platform. CISA said it is still investigating the additional attack vectors, and that the attacker is likely using tactics, techniques, and procedures that have not yet been discovered…
Why Biden Might Follow Trump’s Lead on Cybersecurity Policy
On many issues—climate change, immigration, relations with Iran—the incoming Biden administration is expected to reverse President Trump’s policies. On cybersecurity, not so much. In interviews with The Record, and at a series of online events this week, commentators and potential Biden appointees said the new administration, in its efforts to protect U.S. computer networks, would seek to build on the progress made primarily by officials at the Department of Homeland Security, rather than attempt a clean policy break….