Skip to main content

Obama Seeks Cybersecurity Boost to Replace 'Ancient' Tech

Share This article

WASHINGTON - The federal government is relying on archaic computers systems to protect reams of critical data from cyberattacks, President Barack Obama warned Tuesday as he announced a new, centralized effort to boost cybersecurity.
 
Obama, asking Congress for $3.1 billion for cybersecurity, said some cyber infrastructure is downright ancient, with the Social Security Administration relying on systems from the 1960s, making them vulnerable to attacks.
 
"That's going to have to change," Obama said, flanked by top national security advisers in the Roosevelt Room. Thanks to the explosion of the Internet and widespread access to technology, he said, "We're going to have to play some catch-up."
 
Obama's comments came after the release Tuesday of his 2017 budget proposal, which unveiled a new high-level federal official to coordinate cybersecurity policy across civilian agencies and to work with military and intelligence counterparts. Obama is asking Congress for a $19-billion boost in cybersecurity funding across all government agencies - an increase of more than from 35 percent from last year.
 
Dubbed the "Cybersecurity National Action Plan," the effort is being touted by the White House as the "capstone" of seven years of often faltering attempts to build a cohesive, broad federal cybersecurity response. Obama said some problems could be fixed relatively quickly, but added he was directing his advisers to focus also on anticipating future threats so that cybersecurity protections can adapt.
 
"I'm going to be holding their feet to the fire to make sure they execute on this in a timely fashion," Obama said.
 
Measures include more training for the private sector, emphasizing measures such as password and pin authentication to sign onto tax data and government benefits. The budget also proposes that the government reduce the use of Social Security numbers for identification. None of the suggestions appeared groundbreaking or entirely novel. In fact, many were previously suggested in both government and think tank reports and even replications of previous efforts.
 
"Not to be overly critical, but my initial reaction was a lot of this stuff is not new, and in fact they point to things as if to say... 'We've got to do this,' and private industry is already doing it," said Randy Sabett, a former National Security Agency crypto-engineer. Sabett worked on a think tank commission that provided advice to Obama's presidency on cybersecurity in 2008. "Tying all these pieces together again to me goes back to that leadership component of the administration. The window dressing is there, now what's behind the curtains."
 
The tasking of a single high-level official with tracking down cyber intruders in federal government networks establishes a position long in place at companies in the private sector. The lack of such a government role has been especially notable after hackers stole the personal information of 21 million Americans, whose information was housed at the Office of Personnel Management. The U.S. believes the hack was a Chinese espionage operation.
 
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned lawmakers Tuesday during his annual assessment of top dangers facing the country that U.S. information systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks by foreign powers - specifically naming Russia, China, Iran and North Korea as the most potent threats.
 
The chief information security officer position is expected to be filled in 60 to 90 days, said Tony Scott, the U.S. chief information officer. The White House said that person will set and monitor performance goals for agencies. But it remains to be seen whether the person will be vested with the authority to tackle such a critical role, said Jacob Olcott, a former congressional legal adviser on cybersecurity.
 
The budget notes that U.S. Cyber Command is building a Cyber Mission Force of 133 teams assembled from 6,200 military, civilian and contractors from across military and defense agencies. The force will be fully operational in 2018 but has already been used for some cyber operations.
 
Many of the proposals such as the new cybersecurity official can be done through existing appropriations or executive authorities, the White House said.
 
Obama said he expects broad support and has already spoken to House Speaker Paul Ryan about ways Republicans and Democrats could work together.
 
The Department of Homeland Security plans to expand its EINSTEIN system, which was created to detect and block cyberattacks on federal agencies. The program received a scathing review last month by the Government Accountability Office, which said it can only detect known threats but not more complex threats.
 
The president established through executive order Tuesday a permanent Federal Privacy Council to bring together government privacy officials to implement comprehensive privacy guidelines. A Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity will be tasked with making recommendations in government cybersecurity for the next decade.
 
___
 
Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.
 
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Share This article

About The Author

CBN
News

CBN News is a national/international, nonprofit news organization that provides programming 24 hours a day by cable, satellite and the Internet. Staffed by a group of acclaimed news professionals, CBN News delivers stories to over a million viewers each day without a specific agenda. With its headquarters in Virginia Beach, Va., CBN News has bureaus in Washington D.C., Jerusalem, and elsewhere around the world. What began as a segment on CBN's flagship program, The 700 Club, in the early 1980s, CBN News has since expanded into a multimedia news organization that offers today's news headlines