On November 6th, 2011, the Washington Times reported how the Federal Bureau of Prisons is increasingly concerned that US prisons are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Computer security experts recently found that security systems in most American prisons are vulnerable to hackers, and that these hackers could manipulate the Industrial Control Systems that control the prison's physical infrastructure. Thus, computer hackers could remotely open cell doors and shut down prison communications using materials that cost less than $2,500.
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On November 6th, eWeek reported how Gen. Keith Alexander, NSA/CyberCom head, believes that migration to the cloud is the best way to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. Gen. Alexander believes that the cloud is a key part of the intelligence community's IT strategy because cloud computing helps defense and intelligence agencies see incoming attacks. The article notes that NSA and DOD computer systems currently constitute over 7 million pieces of IT infrastructure; with each piece protected by its own firewall, network admins have difficulty figuring out what is happening in these isolated networks. "Collapsing these enclaves" would provide admins with better situational awareness, making systems more defensible and freeing up more eyes to focus on cyber-defense as opposed to operations. Gen. Alexander did note that consolidation in the cloud does make it easier to steal more assets than if they were spread across networks, but he believes that the increased probability of seeing such intrusions makes up for the threat.
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On November 7th, FierceGovernment provided the opposite view: that cloud computing will open up new opportunities for espionage within US networks. Citing their report, ONCIX believes that the movement of data among multiple locations "will increase the opportunities for theft or manipulation by malicious actors." Further, cloud computing will cause a cultural shift in that there will be fewer distinctions between people's home and work lives, meaning that they'll demand both types of information from both locations. This cultural shift has the potential to increase instances of theft.
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