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Obama Signs Cybersecurity Executive Order
An anonymous reader writes "Last night before the State of the Union speech, President Obama signed an executive order for improving cybersecurity of critical infrastructure (PDF). The highlights of the order are: 'information sharing programs' for the government to provide threat reports to industry; an overarching cybersecurity framework developed by NIST to figure out best practices for securing critical infrastructure; and reviews of existing regulations to make sure they're effective. The ACLU supports the Order, as does the EFF. '"A lot of what this shows is that the president can do a lot without cybersecurity legislation," said Mark Jaycox, policy analyst and legislative assistant for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who points out that the executive order satisfies the need for information sharing without the privacy problems that existed under legislative proposals where loopholes would have allowed companies to dump large amounts of data on the government in an effort to obtain legal immunities. Without those immunities, companies will by nature be more circumspect about what they provide the government, thus limiting what they hand over, Jaycox said.'"
Stop putting every computer on the same network. Stop using Windows for everything.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Now that the corporate puppet has put his masters' signature on this document, The Powers That Be can continue to shove shit media down the throats of the masses.
You can google DCISE for yourself, or take your chances following an embedded link on slashdot...
http://www.dc3.mil/dcise/dciseAbout.php
___ I don't respond to Anonymous Cowards, and I Never Mod them UP.
That's too long, I propose to abbreviate it to CyberSEx Order, it's less of a mouthful.
Ezekiel 23:20
Welcome to the new American Paradigm.
President: Legislator, executive, judge, jury, and executioner.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
I think we're past the days of judges, juries and executioners.
Now after government bureaucrat #2,987,103 puts your name on a watch list, expect to suddenly explode at any time.
The age of judgment by drone has begun.
Or declared war on cyber insecurity?
Because, if memory serves, those are the sure signs the US government have no more ideas and have given up.
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
It's 2013, can we please stop using "cyber" now?
The two rules for success are:
1) Never tell them everything you know.
I smell bacon. Yet another way to increase the government payroll and supplier base.
While there are lots of problems with the way things have been and are being handled, among these are the ridiculous reactions of business, education and even government has when someone says "hey, I found a problem." It's time "cyber" whistle-blowers get traditional whistle-blower protections.
... welcome our new... oh hell.
Never mind.
Hopefully with this additional security this will keep all the "Cyber" out of Ahmerica!
I almost chocked when that pusbag Panetta started the histrionically absurd oral flatulence, bleating about "cyber Pearl Harbors" and the "destruction of our infrastructure"!
It's all just one more example of this government trying desperately to frighten it's citizenry as it has found that a terrified population will accept ANY abrogation of basic liberty and constitutional rights to "keep them safe"!
I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd
See subject-line, & answer honestly... (doesn't matter IF you say it can't be - I know better -> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22HOW+TO+SECURE+Windows+2000/XP%22&btnG=Submit&gbv=1&sei=3AAcUbOuFPS90QH7poCoAg )
* :)
(Heck - I practically "wrote the book" on how it's done, via those links above, & yes, it really DOES work!)
APK
P.S.=> Anyhow/anyways - Bottom-Line: Any OS out there has 'security issues' or just weak initial setup (even Linux via SeLinux in its defaults as well as MacOS X too, guides & tools exist for both to make them better though)!
However as well, on the 'flipside': Any of them can be "security-hardened" & quite easily in minutes (IF You do it as I do in those guides, + I sped that process up (CIS Tool) for Windows 7 here, vs. how I used to do it for 2000/XP/Server 2003, by saving the necessary 'tweaks' into .reg &/or .inf files for instant merges after install (which I keep my system OFFLINE during it until that's done))...
... apk
You forgot the infected Quake 3 that was served from nearly every repo for a year and a half. i especially like that one, as it shows there is too much trust by downstream repos and if you get a bug into an upstream you can just kick back and let it spread.
But this is why I rail against magical thinking, I have seen guys who spent thousands of dollars on systems because "this product doesn't get bugs!" only to find that magical thinking doesn't work and they spent all that money for nothing.
That is what is really sad about these "just use Linux!" types as many are probably infected now and because they know so little about their OS they probably don't even know how to check. security isn't an OS, its not a button that can be pushed, its a process that takes time to learn and requires the user be vigilant to new threats. This is why i'll always call out magical thinking when i see it being used, because there are too many that don't know better that might actually believe it and end up losing big time. I have seen a vicious hacker completely wipe out 3 years worth of family pics and videos, just to be a douchebag. So better to nip magical thinking in the bud before somebody gets hurt.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Why are critical infrastructre, military, and non-consumer facing financials ON A FUCKING PUBLIC NETWORK AT ALL?
Well at the time it sounded like you were betting it all on the HOSTS which sounded like magical thinking and as you know that is something I'm VERY strongly against but now I know its just part of a larger security plan I can see it has its place. I still prefer to run it at the DNS level since I have a low power Sempron at the shop that is perfect for the task and don't have to rely on MSFT's as you know increasingly badly done networking choices but not everybody has the luxury of a building handyman that hands piles of laptops and desktops for free so you use what you have. I really need to find somebody around here that does ebay as the laptops that need work are really starting to pile up and it'd probably be better to part most of 'em out anyway,gotta say i'm tickled pink though he brought me a barely 3 year old C2D loaded with RAM and a 500GB HDD that just needed a keyboard, looks like daddy is gonna have a netbook AND a full size.
And as you know I'm mainly a windows guy (If you know what you are doing frankly all OSes are equal) but I found the Quake 3 bug especially telling as it showed how much blind trust downstream repos have and how little "many eyes" is useful for catching actual bugs, if I can come across the link again I'll post it.
Finally as for Linus I get plenty of hate for saying it but he is a douchebag, he really is. If his little asshole rant wasn't proof enough the simple fact that every. other. OS. on. the. planet. has a stable ABI but jerkwad Torvalds won't allow it because of religious reasons? Sorry but that is douchebaggery. and yes its religious because ALL of their arguments break down to "ZOMFG somebody might release...gasp...non free drivers ZOMFG!" and then in the next breath they say "Use nvidia"..Well WTF do you think Nvidia drivers are? The only damned graphics drivers that work consistently are the NON FREE DRIVERS!
But I learned a long time ago you'll never get a FOSSie to admit Linux is an OS with bugs like everybody else anymore than getting a young earther to admit the world is billions of years old so I don't bother. I have all Linux articles filtered now so i don't even see them, the posts end up a FOSSie circle jerk anyway, why waste time. Now I only chime in when obvious magical thinking is being spewed because I've seen first hand that people that have recently gotten a virus will try anything if it promises them a magical virus free life and it often leads to disaster because instead of learning how not to get viruses they change to a system they know less than nothing about and end up in worse shape, like the guy i know who went out and spent nearly 20k replacing every system in his office for Macs only to get DNSChanger and MacDefener infections.
at the end of the day all we can do is show them the first steps while making it clear that using any one tool won't magically make you immune, be it DNS or HOSTS or AVs (which I saw an article recently that said on average AVs only catch around 6% of bugs) but that its a process they have to learn and will have to stay on top of. Sadly those that aren't geeks will be happy to take a quick fix even if it sounds too good to be true so we must be vigilant and point out when such falsehoods are spewed...peace.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.