Obama taps techies to scour bureaucracy

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Politico

President-elect Barack Obama’s review of the vast federal bureaucracy will be led by past aides to former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

But it will also include lots of former Clintonites, a half dozen techies, one adviser with a serious grounding in national security, a handful people likely to please the labor, environmental and women’s movements – and a few who test Obama’s newly unveiled ban on lobbyists.

Obama’s transition office announced on Wednesday that the three co-chairs overseeing its review of all federal agencies will be former Kennedy counsel Melody Barnes and ex-Gore aides Lisa Brown and Don Gips.

Gips, who is on leave from the Internet firm Level 3 Communications and previously worked for the Federal Communications Commission, is said to be under consideration to be chairman of that agency. He’s one of six freshly tapped Obama advisers with ties to the high-tech communications world, which Obama appears to be embracing more than President Bush.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15571.html

[spag68]

1. Level 3

You do realize that this company is a leader in spy ware and other NSA-CIA electronic stuff, don't you? I for one will be very suspicious of this man.

[Ghost Dog]

2. But, how else to find and follow the trails

of all the nefarious activities in the current administration/bureaucracy that have undoubtedly been going on?

[grannie4peace]

3. this is why i love du---

it is so nice to find out things i may never have had revealed otherwise--- thank you!!!!:hi:

[FarCenter]

6. You are confusing Level 3 Communications with L-3 Communications

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_3_Communications

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-3_Communications

[1776Forever]

4. I have been fascinated for years at how technically illiterate most of the Congress & President was!

They had before them many time an updating of equipment for the FBI, etc, and consistently turned it down! What did that mean?

Consultant Breached FBI's Computers
Frustrated by Bureaucracy, Hacker Says Agents Approved and Aided Break-Ins

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/05/AR2006070501489.html

By Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 6, 2006; Page A05

A government consultant, using computer programs easily found on the Internet, managed to crack the FBI's classified computer system and gain the passwords of 38,000 employees, including that of FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III.

The break-ins, which occurred four times in 2004, gave the consultant access to records in the Witness Protection Program and details on counterespionage activity, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. As a direct result, the bureau said it was forced to temporarily shut down its network and commit thousands of man-hours and millions of dollars to ensure no sensitive information was lost or misused.

(snip)

The incident is only the latest in a long string of foul-ups, delays and embarrassments that have plagued the FBI as it tries to update its computer systems to better share tips and information. Its computer technology is frequently identified as one of the key obstacles to the bureau's attempt to sharpen its focus on intelligence and terrorism.

And this in Sept. '08:

Watchdog: US Computer Emergency Readiness Team isn't ready
Nation not secure

By Dan Goodin

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/17/gao_criticizes_us_cert/

Posted in Security, 17th September 2008

Webcast: Building Applications for the 21st Century

A government watchdog agency has taken the US Department of Homeland Security to task for failing to adequately protect the nation's critical computer networks in a report that singles out the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team.

In a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, a member of the Government Accountability Office said US-CERT should do a better job of monitoring network activity "for anomalies to determine whether they are threats, warning appropriate officials with timely and actionable threat and mitigation information, and responding to the threat," according to Nextgov. He also criticized US-CERT for weaknesses identified during a 2006 cybersecurity drill.

A draft report issued by the GAO, and reported here by BusinessWeek, is considerably harsher. It claims US-CERT "lacks a comprehensive baseline understanding of the nation's critical information infrastructure operations, does not monitor all critical infrastructure information systems, does not consistently provide actionable and timely warnings, and lacks the capacity to assist in mitigation and recovery in the event of multiple, simultaneous incidents of national significance."

It also says US-CERT "still does not exhibit aspects of the attributes essential to having a truly national capability."

DHS officials defend their capabilities but also say they are the first to admit they need to do more to safeguard the nation's infrastructure. "We are undertaking something not unlike the Manhattan Project," a DHS representative told BusinessWeek. "We have set a strong cyber strategy, recently created the National Cyber Security Center, and are in the process of aggressively hiring several hundred analysts to further our mission of security critical infrastructure."

Among the planned enhancements is a system known as Einstein, which collects, correlates, analyzes and shares computer security information with US-CERT members.

US-CERT was established in 2003 and shoulders primary responsibility for protecting private and government-run computer networks in the US. It is partnership between the DHS and the public and private sectors

[wroberts189]

5. Whats wrong with the firewalls...?

umm... they do have firewalls right?


Wait... I keep thinking they are competent. sorry.