The National Security Agency is developing cybersecurity guidelines to apply to its own systems and ultimately to any government or contractor network, according to sources familiar with the effort.

A 38-member team is drawing up the guidelines, which will be based on a list of 20 cybersecurity controls developed two years ago by an independent panel of government and nongovernment experts.

NSA spokesmen would neither confirm nor deny the program’s existence.

The original guidelines were designed to promote continuous network monitoring, but they were largely sidestepped by the Defense Department and contractors. Still, they generated intense debate in military security circles, leading to the NSA’s current project.

via Federal Times, continued here.

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With public sentiment on the bill shifting in recent weeks and an implicit veto threat now emerging from the White House, Congressional staffers are resigning themselves to writing replacement language or possibly entirely new bills.

The White House said in a blog post over the weekend that it wouldn’t support “legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.”

Three key section of the existing legislation seem likely to remain, a person familiar with the matter says. They comprise provisions aimed at getting search engines to disable links to foreign infringing sites; provisions that cut off advertising services to those sites; and provisions that cut off payment processing.

via Reuters, full article here.

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Military information securityexperts at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Va., are asking for industry’s help in developing ways to blendbiometrics into U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) military cyber security systems without installing new hardware. The intent is no only to save time and money, but also to help bolster existing DOD computer security that relies primarily on requiring uses to type in long and complex passwords.

DARPA on Friday issued a broad agency announcement (DARPA-BAA-12-06) for the initial phase of the Active Authentication program to develop software-based biometric approaches to verify the identities of authorized DOD computer users not only at login, but also throughout the courses of the users’ computer sessions.

via Military Aerospace, continued here.

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The Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber security saw the retirement of one of its leaders on Jan. 13, but also the appointment of a new director on the same day.

In a blog post, DHS Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute thanked Rear Admiral Mike Brown for his service as the deputy assistant secretary, Cyber Security and Communications. In a following post, Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity, Mark Weatherford said John Streufert was appointed as the new Director of the Cybersecurity and Communications (CSC)’s National Cybersecurity Division.

via Government Security News, continued here.

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Sameer Bhalotra is leaving as the White House’s deputy cybersecurity coordinator.

Government and industry sources confirm Bhalotra is moving back to Northern California after his wife got a new job. His last day will be in the next few weeks.

The White House would not comment on Bhalotra’s status.

Bhalotra came to the White House in June 2010 after serving as a staff member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

During his time at the White House, Bhalotra played a key role in helping the administration develop cyber initiatives, including the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, the legislative proposal sent to Capitol Hill in May and the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education.

via Federal News Radio, continued here.

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