What I'm Reading 3/12/2020 - Congress has a cybersecurity plan

Books -

The Good Shepherd -

A convoy of thirty-seven merchant ships is ploughing through icy, submarine-infested North Atlantic seas during the most critical days of World War II, when the German submarines had the upper hand and Allied shipping was suffering heavy losses. In charge is Commander George Krause, an untested veteran of the U.S. Navy. Hounded by a wolf pack of German U-boats, he faces 48 hours of desperate peril trapped the bridge of the ship. Exhausted beyond measure, he must make countless and terrible decisions as he leads his small fighting force against the relentless U-boats.

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The Ten-Day MBA 4th Ed.: A Step-By-Step Guide To Mastering The Skills Taught In America's Top Business Schools

Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century

Blogs / News - 

Cyberscoop - What to expect from the Cybersecurity Solarium Commission report -

The Cybersecurity Solarium Commission on Wednesday released 75 recommendations that call for changes in the way that Congress and the Trump administration oversee crucial security issues that, if unaddressed, may jeopardize U.S. national and economic security.

The full report is at the link.  182 pages of governmental goodness.

More - Fifth Domain - Congressional report outlines new American cyber strategy - 

The report outlines six policy pillars that are reflected in the commission’s 75 policy recommendations.

1. Reform the U.S. government’s structure and organization for cyberspace: Cyber jurisdictions are fractured across government and the report found that the government has “not kept up” with how cyberspace has “transformed” every aspect of American life.
2. Strengthen norms and non-military tools: The report makes several recommendations related to diplomatic engagement on cyber issues to promote responsible behavior in cyberspace.
3. Promote national resilience: The federal government needs to take steps to ensure the public and private sector are capable of responding and recovering from a cyberattack. Part of that effort includes a recommendation that Congress create a cyber state of distress that is accompanied by a cyber response and recovery fund.
4. Reshape the cyber ecosystem toward greater security: The report says that the “baseline level of security” across all aspects of cyberspace — people, tech, data and processes — needs to increase in order to reduce adversaries activities.
5. Operationalize cybersecurity collaboration with the private sector: The Solarium Commission called on the federal government to better their threat information sharing and collaboration with the federal government.
6. Preserve and employ the military instrument of power — and all other options to deter cyberattacks at any level: The report recommends that the Department of Defense assess vulnerabilities in weapons systems, the Defense Industrial Base and ensure the Cyber Mission Force is prepared.

“The executive branch and Congress should give these recommendations and the associated legislative proposals close consideration,” the report reads. “Congress should also consider ways to monitor, assess, and report on the implementation of this report’s recommendations over the next two years.”

Reuters - U.S. Supreme Court allows Trump's 'Remain in Mexico' asylum policy -

The court granted an emergency request filed by the administration and lifted a partial block on the program imposed by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court on Feb. 28 issued a ruling blocking the policy but then immediately put it on hold while the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene.

I don't think this was a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention.

Infosecurity Magazine - Los Angeles Utility Accused of Cybersecurity Coverup - 

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has been accused of deliberately keeping widespread gaps in its cybersecurity a secret from regulators in a large-scale coverup involving the city's mayor.

The allegations were made by Ardent Cyber Solutions LLC, a company hired by the Department of Water and Power (DWP) in April 2019 to perform cybersecurity work.

In a 10-page claim filed against the city earlier this year, Ardent states that it uncovered an "extremely high number of unpatched vulnerabilities" in the company's "corporate IT network."

 Medium - Microsoft pins down another Nation-State Hacker group - 

Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) and the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) had recently been tracking the activity of one such hacker group Thallium — finally figuring out that the group was running a network of websites, domains & internet-connected computers for its malicious activities. Enabled by court order, Microsoft was able to take down 50 domains that Thallium was using to conduct its nefarious activities.

...

In similar news, Kaspersky has released another report which suggests that Lazarus — a well-known hacker group which is also believed to have ties with the North Korean dictatorship is using the privacy-centric messaging app Telegram to steal cryptocurrency.

BBC -  Chelsea Manning recovering after suicide attempt, lawyers say -

Former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning is recovering in hospital after trying to take her own life, her legal team has said.

Police confirmed there was "an incident" involving Manning, 32, at a detention centre in Virginia where she has been held since last May.

Manning was remanded for contempt of court for refusing to testify before an inquiry into Wikileaks.