The plan calls for more than $19 billion for cybersecurity, with $3.1 billion going toward updating the government’s old computer system.
Advertisement
President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for the 2017 fiscal year seeks $19 billion for cyber security across the USA government, a surge of $5 billion over this year, according to senior administration officials.
“So with the help of companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Visa, we’re going to empower Americans to be able to help themselves and make sure that they are safe online with an extra layer of security, like a fingerprint or a code sent to your cellphone”, Obama said. None of the suggestions appeared groundbreaking or entirely novel.
Some portion of the money will go to the classified cyber budget for intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency and the CIA, they said. Officials, who briefed reporters before the formal release of the Obama budget, said they would create a new position of federal chief information security officer. Sabett worked on a think tank commission that provided advice to Obama’s presidency on cybersecurity in 2008. “The window dressing is there, now what’s behind the curtains”.
Across town, the USA director of national intelligence, James Clapper, warned Congress that Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are the most serious threats to US information systems. Prior to joining FCW, he was a reporter and editor at Smart Grid Today, where he covered everything from cyber vulnerabilities in the USA electric grid to the national energy policies of Britain and Mexico.
Earlier in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Obama said the federal government has been repeatedly targeted by cyber criminals, including the intrusion previous year into the Office of Personnel Management in which millions of federal employees’ personal information was stolen.
Obama also has signed an executive order creating a federal privacy council to bring together privacy officials from across the government to help achieve a comprehensive set of federal privacy guidelines, the White House said. Scott said the person would make sure strategies are consistently applied across agencies. But it remains to be seen whether the person will be vested with the authorities necessary to tackle such a critical role, said Jacob Olcott, a former congressional legal adviser on cybersecurity. The force will be fully operational in 2018 but has already been used for some cyber operations. While numerous proposals such as the new cybersecurity official can be done through existing appropriations or executive authorities, the modernization effort will require congressional approval, said Michael Daniel, special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said the “oil tax alone would raise the average cost of gasoline by 24 cents per gallon, while hurting jobs and a major sector of our economy”. The program received a scathing review last month by the Government Accountability Office, which said it can’t deal with complex threats such as previously unknown “zero-day” exploits or problematic system behavior that could signify an attack.
Advertisement
Obama also is establishing the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, which the White House said would be made up of technologists and entrepreneurs tasked with making recommendations on how to strengthen IT security over the next decade.
