One of the fun parts of working in the cybersecurity field is that you often come across new technology that is interesting, dismaying, disturbing or just plain cool. Sometimes the technology is all of those at the same time. And … Read more »
As Raffaela has already noted, in today’s Washington Post there is a fascinating story about government plans to require new cyber communications technologies to provide a means by which the government can intercept communications. The problem, briefly stated, is … Read more »
The Wall Street Journal has an article today, titled “U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens.” It reports:
The rules now allow the little-known National Counterterrorism Center to examine the government files of U.S. citizens for
Carrie Cordero, Georgetown’s Director of National Security Studies and a former Justice Department official, writes in with the following thoughts on fusion centers:
As Matt Waxman noted last month, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations recently published a
At the risk of tooting my own horn a bit, I am pleased to announce the publication of “Drones in U.S. Airspace: Principles for Governance” a paper I co-authored with three other colleagues at The Heritage Foundation (where … Read more »
Like Jack, I was struck by the Defense Science Board’s report on the autonomy of military systems, but it was a different aspect of the report that caught my eye – enough so that I thought it was … Read more »
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Governing Body this week approved Recommended Guidelines for the Use of Unmanned Aircraft (downloadable here) by American law enforcement agencies. Among other things, they call for engagement with the community and … Read more »
I’ve been away on business travel this past week and am headed off on vacation next week so blogging for me has been light. But one recent post caught my eye and motivated me to add a quick note:
My … Read more »
Yesterday the NYPD unveiled its Domain Awareness System, which aggregates and analyzes existing public safety data streams (including license plate readers and video surveillance camera systems) in real time. Over at the Council on Foreign Relations, I wrote a short … Read more »
Former Secretary of DHS, Michael Chertoff has this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today, concerning Google’s subversion of Safari’s security settings. Here’s the introduction:
In the cyber age, privacy and security are two sides of the same coin. Digital
Gabriella Blum has a new essay out entitled, “Invisible Threats.” Part of the Emerging Threats series of the Hoover Institution’s Koret-Taube Task Force on National Security and Law (of which Jack, Ken, Matt, and I am are all … Read more »
FAA, eat your heart out. From The Hill, we learn that Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has proposed legislation to curb the use of drones for domestic surveillance. The heart of his “Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act of 2012… Read more »
As Raffaela noted earlier, Atlantic blogger Conor Friedersdorf has written in praise (sort of) of conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer for the latter’s opposition to domestic drones. I would consider this a heartwarming example of a cross-ideological meeting of the … Read more »
Well, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act passed the House last week. Now that the dust has cleared (and before we move on to the coming Senate battles) it’s probably worthwhile looking at the changes that were made to … Read more »
Susan Landau is currently a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Computer Science Department, formerly a Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems, and the author of Surveillance or Security? The Risks Posed by New Wiretapping Technologies. She is also one of the … Read more »
In an earlier post I commented on the politics of the cybersecurity debate. I wrote: “One final piece of the political calculus is what the Administration wants. Right now all public signs are that they want BOTH information sharing … Read more »
Late yesterday, the House sponsors of the CISPA cybersecurity legislation (to be considered tomorrow) announced a series of amendments to the bill intended to address some of the concerns advanced by privacy and civil liberties groups. To quote from their … Read more »
UCLA Professor John Villasenor and I have this oped coming out in tomorrow’s Washington Post responding to calls for the Federal Aviation Administration to take action to protect privacy in the context in the context of regulating the domestic use … Read more »
Over the past several weeks, I’ve written a number of blogs about the substance of the cybersecurity bills pending before Congress. As the House moves to consider cyber legislation next week and as the Senate prepares to begin its debate, … Read more »
The House Homeland Security Committee has now released its own updated version of a cybersecurity bill. The text is (Lungren Substitute April 2012). This bill stands in pretty significant contrast to the Rogers-Ruppersberger bill which (in its … Read more »
The Rogers-Ruppersberger bill will come to the floor the week of April 23. It’s information sharing provisions are likely to be the crux of the debate on the House side. Today, the Manager’s filed a draft amendment in the nature … Read more »
In earlier posts I’ve written generally about the information sharing provisions of the Lieberman-Collins cybersecurity bill and the McCain bill. Today I want to continue drilling down in comparing the two bills on a more detailed basis by examining … Read more »
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post reports that the White House thwarted NSA attempts to seek legislation that “would have required hundreds of companies that provide such critical services as electricity generation to allow their Internet traffic to be continuously … Read more »
Well, the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 is now available for Senate consideration. A link to the text of the bill can be found here for download. Hearings will be held this Thursday. Weighing in at 205 pages, the bill’s text … Read more »
One of the dangers of blogging about current events is that changing events tend to overtake what you have written. Earlier this week, I wrote about the two House bills currently moving through that chamber.
Amendments have been made to … Read more »
In two earlier posts I’ve focused on some of the particular issues that may arise during the Senate’s consideration of a comprehensive cybersecurity bill. The focus on the Senate is apt, inasmuch as Senator Reid has promised to bring a … Read more »
Nobody in Washington ever got rich making predictions about the political process. Nevertheless, I will go out on a limb and predict that at some point in the coming debate over the Senate cybersecurity bill, you will hear or read … Read more »
So amidst all of the gridlock in Congress and the presidential campaigning, there is actually a pretty good chance that Congress might get something significant and forward-looking done this year. The issue is cybersecurity, which is already covered in more … Read more »
As drone aircraft become commonplace in civilian settings – everything from police surveillance to environmental groups tracking whaling vessels to hobbyists and much, much more – and as they become more varied in size and pretty much everything else, well, … Read more »
Lawfare readers may be interested in this event taking place next Tuesday, May 17th at Brookings.
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 placed restrictions on government acquisition of electronic data communications, like emails. As increasingly innovative and sophisticated communications
Below find the prepared hearing testimony from yesterday’s hearing before the full Senate Judiciary Committee.
April 6, 2011: The Electronic Communications Privacy Act: Government Perspectives on Protecting Privacy in the Digital Age
The Honorable Cameron F. Kerry, Esq.
General Counsel… Read more »
Not too many folks are familiar with the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a body Congress created in 2000 to report periodically on, well, economic and security issues associated with the U.S.-China relationship. Its most recent report to … Read more »
Monday, May 20, 2013
As Jack posted yesterday—and as everyone is buzzing about—President Obama will give a major counterterrorism speech on Thursday at the National Defense University. The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Politico all report on the talk, and subjects that the President will likely address.
Speaking of Jack, he noted another of today’s big stories: the Washington Post’s piece on the FBI’s search, a few years… Read more »
