Information Assurance (security) - One of the best in the world

Iowa State University Information Assurance, Warfare, Cyber Attack, Identity Theft, Cyber Terrorism Defense Specialization. One of the best programs in the world.

I'm proud to be part of the team! Short testimonial video by students.

Stay tuned here for our national ID Theft Awareness Certification program rollout in the fall. For insurance, law enforcement, banking, non profit, education, and corporate compliance with FACTA, Red Flag and Due Diligence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV3x4dX65Qk

How good is the new cybersecurity chief?

Howard Schmidt, (photo courtesy of white House) the former chief security officer of Microsoft and vice president for security at eBay was just appointed cyber security chief in the Obama administration. Schmidt also served the Bush administration's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board after Sept 11, 2001.

The seattleweekly.com had a VERY derogatory article about his qualifications as a security man. when he was at Microsoft windows 2000 was hit by the Code Red worm and other attacks. That was LONG ago but the cyber community is less than impressed.

Here is what By Mark D. Fefer had to say about him:

"With a top banner featuring a 10-year-old iMac (the big, bulbous, colored one) and various 1's and 0's, the site looked roughly like what an aspiring IT consultant from Des Moines might have ginned up in 1999. The home page featured the R&H logo; Schmidt's oft-used tagline about the country's need for a "mosaic of security"; and the phrase "Under Contruction" [sic]. Indeed every page at www.cyber-security.us—Contact, About Us, and News—was under construction. No PayPal buttons or interactive functions for Schmidt; his site was locked down tight.

A few days after we posted a blog item about Schmidt's site, it was taken down entirely."

Security or Privacy, That is The Question.

I talked to a close friend this week who works for a sensitive homeland security related research institute on the East Coast. The "security guys" have put software and protection on all the computers used in this organization. The computers are now practically worthless because to get a high level of security the system slows down to turtle speed thus making it almost useless.

You have probably tried using Microsoft Vista. One (of many) reasons its such a bad operating system is that they tried to compensate for the Swiss-cheese-like security problems in previous Windows systems.

Now comes another and vitally needed effort to lock down cyber security. Here are some comments from the article from the NY Times.

Privacy May Be a Victim in Cyberdefense Plan

By THOM SHANKER and DAVID E. SANGER

June 12, 2009

WASHINGTON — A plan to create a new Pentagon cybercommand is raising significant privacy and diplomatic concerns, as the Obama administration moves ahead on efforts to protect the nation from cyberattack and to prepare for possible offensive operations against adversaries’ computer networks.

As with trying to identify terrorists through the Patriot Act, cyber security cannot be easily separated into "domestic" and "foreign" the way we have traditionally allocated legitimate areas of activity for the military and the CIA.

" ... foreign adversaries often mount their attacks through computer network hubs inside the United States, and military officials and outside experts say that threat confronts the Pentagon and the administration with difficult questions. Military officials say there may be a need to intercept and examine some e-mail messages sent from other countries to guard against computer viruses or potential terrorist action. Advocates say the process could ultimately be accepted as the digital equivalent of customs inspections, in which passengers arriving from overseas consent to have their luggage opened for security, tax and health reasons."

So we now once again face that hard choice of giving up some privacy for security or holding tight on our right not to be snooped on by the government but open ourselves to the risk and certainty of cyber-attacks against our personal identities as well as against civilian and government facilities.