Tag: homeland security

Cyber Attacks / Cyber Breach / Cybersecurity

Federal Cybersecurity Problems “Decades in the Making”

Yesterday, the House Oversight Committee received testimony from federal officials regarding the April 2015 cyberattack on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which compromised the personal information of approximately 4 million government employees and retirees, including social security numbers.  The executive branch delayed reporting the incident until June 4, much to the dismay of the House Committee. OPM head Catherine Archuleta was under fire for what Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, called the “most devastating” cyberattack in United States’ history.  Ms. Archuleta attempted to avoid… Continue Reading
Cyber Attacks / Cybersecurity

Breach of U.S. Public Utility

The Department of Homeland Security’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) advised in its quarterly report that an unnamed public utility was compromised after attackers took advantage of a weak password security system by using brute force techniques by trying on various passwords until they hit the right one. This may come as no surprise to some as the vulnerability of the U.S. power grid to electronic attack has been known since the 1990’s. Factors contributing to this increasing danger include the shift… Continue Reading