DISA looking for PKI services, Cyberthreats getting worse and more

By Ryan Kamauff

Here are the top cyber news and stories of the day.

• DISA looks for support of public key infrastructure services – “The Defense Information Systems Agency is developing a new cyber security contract and has stared collecting market data on possible providers of public key infrastructure services.” This is demonstrating a dedication to using PKI infrastructure within the DoD. Via Washington Technology, more here.
• Cyberthreats getting worse, House intelligence officials warn – “The highest-ranking officials on the House intelligence committee continued to warn Sunday of the increasing cybersecurity threat to the U.S. economy and national security.” The House intelligence committee spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union,” warning of potential attacks. Via KDBC, more here.
• Air Force looks to reboot civilian cyber workforce – ”And we moved them all into this bucket, and we said, ‘You’re all now cyber people.’ When you look at our civilians, there are 42 occupational series codes that make up the communications and information career field, everything from general administration to librarians to data clerks. That’s probably not where we’re headed for the future,” he told a luncheon Friday hosted by AFCEA’s Northern Virginia chapter. “So we’re trying to figure out the right occupational series codes by skill sets.” This could help them better hire and compensate cyber warriors. Via Federal News Radio, more here.
• Finance sector under threat from sophisticated malware threat – ”More sophisticated attacks are being created and targeted at a wider range of financial sector companies, according to Symantec’s The World of Financial Trojans report, with over 600 financial organisations singled out for Trojan attacks.” The finance sector needs to update its cybersecurity paradigm, by sharing information and engineering security into the systems. Via ComputerWorld, more here.
• Loose network security policies invite insider hacking – “In a recent survey, OneLogin found 43% of respondents admitting that employees manage passwords in spreadsheets or on sticky notes, 34% share passwords with their co-workers for applications like FedEx, Twitter, Staples and LinkedIn, and 20% experienced an employee still being able to login after leaving the company.” Via USA Today, more here.
• DHS Cyber Czar Mark Weatherford to step down – “Mark Weatherford, a Homeland Security Department top cyber official credited with forging trusted partnerships among insular federal departments and wary companies, will depart for the private sector this spring, DHS officials said.” His departure will leave a void in the federal cyber leadership team. Via Nextgov, more here.

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