Quick survey of recent cyber news . . .
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According to DARPA’s Information page, roughly 350 “software engineers, cyber researchers and human-machine interface experts” attended a Plan X conference from Oct 15–16. To me, Plan X sounds like a cyberwar management platform . . . maybe like air battle management for the cyber world. DARPA describes it as a “revolutionary technologies for understanding, planning and managing DoD cyber missions in real-time, large-scale and dynamic network environments.” Whatever it is, the program is getting a lot of interest. The aforementioned 350 attendees heard where DARPA is going with Plan X and offered their input. I haven’t found anything on what was actually said. Apparently we’ll get a Broad Agency Announcement on Plan X within the month.
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Zachary Fryer-Biggs wrote for DefenseNews on deterrence in cyberspace. SecDef Panetta strengthened the U.S. cyber deterrence posture when he claimed that we’ve largely solved attribution. However, Fryer-Biggs noted that while those statements might deter nation-states, their effect is still uncertain for non-state actors. Indeed, “[i]s the U.S. willing to strike against what are ostensibly private citizens?”
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Via The Huffington Post, Richard Lardner gave an update on the cyber EO. According to the article (and the most recent draft of the EO), “U.S. spy agencies [would] share the latest intelligence about cyberthreats with companies operating [critical infrastructure].” These warnings would come in the form of sanitized “tear lines” and would be sent to private employees with security clearances. DHS is still in charge, with substantial help from DoD and the NSA.
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David E. Sanger, of the New York Times, on tomorrow’s presidential debate on foreign policy. Should we expect anything on cybersecurity? Well, “Obama cannot talk about ‘Olympic Games,'” and both candidates have mostly avoided the issue. So odds ain’t good.
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Mei Xinyu had an interesting op-ed for ChinaDailyUSA. Responding to the battle over Huawei’s reliability, Xinyu persuasively argued as to why those fears are overblown.
Also, a few days ago I posted an article about how the White House cleared Huawei of actual espionage (but not the concern about potential espionage). According to YahooNews, who was quoting WH National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden: “[t]he White House has not conducted any classified inquiry that resulted in clearing any telecom equipment supplier.” Strange.
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Walter Pincus, for The Washington Post, on whether the U.S. will suffer blowback from its use of cyberweapons . . .
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Reuters explained how the top USAF brass will hold a November meeting “to discuss cyber warfare.”
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Finally, Jason Miller wrote for FederalNewsRadio on how DHS is realigning its cybersecurity office.
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