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Obama expected to issue cybersecurity executive order
- knowaveragejoe 14y agoSeems pretty sensible to me, though some folks seem to be linking it with the revival of CISPA.
- ihsw 14y agoThe problem is the bi-directional information sharing between private companies and the multiple levels of government -- it should be one-way (private companies -> government). There is a very large potential for abuse and we will have no recourse.
- bcoates 14y agoI don't want information sharing that way either. We have (sadly, increasingly circumvented or weakened) laws banning that for a reason.
- ihsw 14y agoI will not deny that it's unpleasant but it is a necessity, which is why subpoenas and warrants exist. Unfortunately, law enforcement organizations are harrumphing and ruffling feathers so they're getting what they want -- ability to bypass the requirement for subpoenas and court-ordered warrants.
- ck2 14y agoThe order should be all critical computers like power-grid control should not be able to connect to the internet in any way or have usb ports or DVD drives. I have this fear that somewhere an ICBM is on an internet router because some general wants to monitor it. Sounds insane right? Well why are power stations on the internet?
- thirsteh 14y agoYou also need to monitor or update the software and machinery, so you'll probably want some kind of internal network. But can other things than the control systems connect to that network? Then you're screwed, unless you can absolutely guarantee that e.g. a laptop connected to the same network can't be compromised/transported out of the facility. Iran's SCADA controllers were not connected to the Internet when they got owned by Stuxnet. They were just connected to a network with a laptop with a USB port.
- mtgx 14y agoBut Obama's problem seems to be with the Internet. So keep those off the Internet, and then pass whatever legislation and executive orders they want for those networks, and leave the Internet alone. Of course the reality is this executive order is going to have many "gotchas" hidden in it, to give the executive more power over the Internet, and we probably won't learn about them until it's too late.
- thirsteh 14y agoYeah, no disagreement.
- tptacek 14y agoAn executive order that forbad private companies from connecting to the Internet would be far more of an executive overreach than anything proposed for cybersecurity by the executive, the Democrats in the Senate, or the Republicans in the House.
- SoftwareMaven 14y agoThe fundamental problem with this in my opinion starts with the executive order. As the article states: the executive's job is to enforce laws, not make them. EO's have stepped well beyond that in the last 20 years, with the executive branch becoming more sovereign in nature, which scares the hell out of me. We do need a cyber security bill, but it should be passed by Congress, whose job it is to iron out all the competing needs, instead of passed by fiat by a wanna-be king[1] who "knows what's best for the country". 1. EO's aren't the exclusive domain of Obama by any stretch. Every president since HW Bush has used them in increasing number and, IMO, in increasing defiance to the separation of powers. Another 20 years and Congress will be nothing but a complete farce, much like other dictatorial "republics".
- homosaur 14y agoYou're WAAAAAAY past the fundamental problem IMO. The problem is not the king, it's the entire court. The US now has a dysfunctional relationship with a federal government that continually grabs powers they don't have.
- rayiner 14y agoThe principle underlying executive orders is that they don't make laws, but guide enforcement discretion that the President already has. I'm curious to see what executive orders you think overstep the line from guiding enforcement discretion to outright lawmaking.
- stevvooe 14y agohttp://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9066 http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9066
- rgrieselhuber 14y agoCouldn't have said it better myself. This is exactly why legislation is a process that requires oversight and accountability. I'll never understand why people are willing to write the president a blank check.
- jostmey 14y agoI find it worrisome when government declares it is time to protect the internet. The internet has flourished just fine without intervention.
- tptacek 14y agoSo did the wild west.
- skylan_q 14y agoI never knew why they called it the wild west. It was very tame.
- bcoates 14y agoWell, every once in a while the government would come by and regulate a population out of existence for security reasons. But that was the old days, they're totally trustworthy and non-murdery now.
- dfc 14y agoWhen you say this are you ignoring or denying the experience of Native Americans? Because from what I understand tame is not a word often used to describe the Trail of Tears or Wounded Knee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_Wars http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_Wars
- skylan_q 14y agoThe Wild West refers to the west when Americans first started settling in the West and were largely out of the reaches of the army and federal government.
- dfc 14y agoWhen the west was being "settled" who living there at the time? Put another way: Are you arguing that the wild west period was a peaceful and prosperous time for the Native Americans? A period marked by little physical or economic violence?
- tptacek 14y agoHave any of you actually read the executive order? If not, did you perhaps notice who the sources were for the stories being written about it today? There was a cybersecurity order on the table last year (it wasn't enacted). HN got up in arms about it. Some of us read it. Guess what? It concerned itself almost entirely with the operational security of the federal government itself (which operates the world's largest IT departments). The places where it stepped past instructing DOE how to secure their networks were to create educational programs to get more people doing information security. It contained no provisions at all that would have given the government access to private entities networks. I haven't read this executive order, but if I was going to place a bet about it, it would be that everyone hyperventilating about "king complexes" on HN is being played.
- harold 14y agoI remember a time not long ago when skepticism of government was considered healthy, even here on HN.
- rayiner 14y agoThere's not that fine a line between skepticism and ignorant paranoia. Many people here on HN react in a paranoid manner to government initiatives without bothering to even read the proposals or educate themselves about the situation beyond what they hear from the echo chamber.
- adventured 14y agoThe government has earned a very large dose of paranoia. They keep trying to intentionally rob us of our liberty, and they've been doing it mostly as behind-closed-doors as they can get away with. The old joke is it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you. The government keeps demonstrating it's really out to get us, or specifically it wants vast new powers over every remaining corner of freedom, including the Internet.
- tptacek 14y ago
- fatkid 14y agothe govt's efforts on cyber security are almost as much of a joke as their response to protecting private businesses. unless you're google or a major bank, getting some sort of response from the fbi/ic3. Have tried playing by the rules when a client is attacked and submitting the information to them, but never any response. Most of the time i brush these attacks off as my own failure to keep things locked down but on the more serious attacks i've submitted server logs, documentation tracking the person back to their home address, facebook page, mother's phone number, everything they could possible need to arrest and prosecute. nothing but crickets. glad they're starting to make some effort, but from software loopholes to literally exposed (outside & unprotected) hardware/transmission equipment, doubtful they'll never get their shoes on the right feet.
- websitescenes 14y agoThe internet has been a wild new frontier. Unfortunately All frontiers eventually become littered with the selfish ambitions of man.