statism watch

What is it with the ‘Czars’ and councils? Are we to be ruled by councils now, as under the Soviet system?

Flashback: Put NSA in Charge of Cyber Security, Or the Power Grid Gets It | Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies | Pentagon spending millions to fix cyberattacks | Should Obama Control the Internet? | Cybersecurity law would give feds unprecedented net control | Munk Centre researchers discover botnet, call for international cyberspace ‘legal regime’ | NSA Dominance of Cybersecurity Would Lead to ‘Grave Peril’, Ex-Cyber Chief Tells Congress | Do We Need a New Internet? | Defense Contractors See $$$ in Cyber Security | RCMP to helm a Canadian “cyber-security strategy” | Law Professor tells tech conference: plans to shut down Internet already on deck

Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post
May 26, 2009

President Obama is expected to announce late this week that he will create a “cyber czar,” a senior White House official who will have broad authority to develop strategy to protect the nation’s government-run and private computer networks, according to people who have been briefed on the plan.

The adviser will have the most comprehensive mandate granted to such an official to date and will probably be a member of the National Security Council but will report to the national security adviser as well as the senior White House economic adviser, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations are not final.

The announcement will coincide with the long-anticipated release of a 40-page report that evaluates the government’s cybersecurity initiatives and policies. The report is intended to outline a “strategic vision” and the range of issues the new adviser must handle, but it will not delve into details, administration officials told reporters last month.

Cybersecurity “is vitally important, and the government needs to be coordinated on this,” a White House official said Friday, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “The report give conclusions and next steps. It’s trying to steer us in the right direction.”

The document will not resolve the politically charged issue of what role the National Security Agency, the premier electronic surveillance agency, will have in protecting private-sector networks. The issue is a key concern in policy circles, and experts say it requires a full and open debate over legal authorities and the protection of citizens’ e-mails and phone calls. The Bush administration’s secrecy in handling its Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, most of which was classified, hindered such a debate, privacy advocates have said.

The White House’s role will be to oversee the process, formulate policy and coordinate agencies’ roles, and will not be operational, administration officials have said.

Obama was briefed a week ago and signed off on the creation of the position, the sources said. But as of Friday, discussions were continuing as to what rank and title the adviser would have. The idea is to name someone who can “pick up the phone and contact the president directly, if need be,” an administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Obama pledged during his presidential campaign to elevate the issue of cybersecurity to a “top priority” and to appoint a national cybersecurity adviser “who will report directly to me.”

Having the adviser report to both the national security and economic advisers suggests that the White House is seeking to ensure a balance between homeland security and economic concerns, the sources said. It also indicates an effort to quell an internal political battle in which Lawrence H. Summers, the senior White House economic adviser, is pushing for the National Economic Council to have a key role in cybersecurity to ensure that efforts to protect private networks do not unduly threaten economic growth, the sources said.

The report suggests that although it is a key government responsibility to help secure private-sector networks, regulation should be the last resort, the sources said. The report touts the concept of public-private partnerships to protect nongovernmental systems. It discusses the need to provide incentives for greater data sharing and risk management, and to use the procurement process to drive greater security, they said.

The report recommends that members be appointed to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an independent executive branch agency created by Congress in 2007 to ensure that privacy concerns are considered in the implementation of counterterrorism policies and laws. The report suggests that the board’s mandate expressly include cybersecurity, the sources said.

The document is based on a 60-day review of cyber policies, led by Melissa Hathaway, the interim White House cybersecurity adviser and former intelligence official who is a contender for the new position. During that review, Hathaway’s team had dozens of meetings with representatives from industry, academia and civil liberties groups, and received more than 100 papers.

Source | See also under Internet: Next up for France: police keyloggers and Web censorship | France passes ‘three strikes’ Internet surveillance law | Canadian Parliament Threatens People For Posting Video Of Proceedings Online | EU wants ‘Internet G12′ to govern cyberspace | UK Home Secretary has secret plan to surveil, ‘Master the Internet’ | UK wants industry to track Internet users as plans scrapped for state database | Fredericton police arrest well-known N.B. blogger on legislature grounds | Pirate Bay lawyer calls for retrial after judge confirms ties to copyright groups | Jail terms for Pirate Bay founders, appeal in works | French legislators reject internet piracy bill | Put NSA in Charge of Cyber Security, Or the Power Grid Gets It | Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies | Pentagon spending millions to fix cyberattacks | Aussies Announce $31B National Broadband Network | Britons block Google Street View van | Should Obama Control the Internet? | Cybersecurity law would give feds unprecedented net control | Munk Centre researchers discover botnet, call for international cyberspace ‘legal regime’ | Google Street View comes to Canada | In Australia, censored hyperlinks could cost you | ISOHunt points out Google, Yahoo torrent engines too | Obama Administration Claims Copyright Treaty Involves State Secrets | Internet ad tracking system will put a ’spy camera’ in the homes of millions, warns founder of the web | French government accused of ‘Big Brother’ tactics over internet piracy | Australian web censorship plan to begin trial despite house opposition | Time to regulate online content, cultural groups tell CRTC | Facebook’s Users Ask Who Owns Information | Do We Need a New Internet? | New law to give police access to online exchanges | Chinese Learn Limits of Online Freedom as the Filter Tightens | Britain unveils plans for nationalized internet service | Google plans to make PCs history | EU Police set to step up warrantless hacking of home PCs | Defense Contractors See $$$ in Cyber Security | UK Culture secretary wants international age restrictions for web | Protests in Australia over proposal to block Web sites | Latest Round of Closed-Door ACTA Copyright Negotiations Wrap Up | China restarts online crackdown | CRTC Internet regulation proposals take shape | Cyberbullying verdict turns rule-breakers into criminals | Felony hacking precedent not set in case of Myspace cyberbully | Myspace terms of use could become fulcrum for destruction of online anonymity in precedent setting case | Bell can squeeze downloads, CRTC rules | Australia to Implement Mandatory Internet Censorship | Microsoft patents web moderator robots, forbidden phrases to be memory-holed | CRTC to consider Internet regulation, invites public comment | RCMP to helm a Canadian “cyber-security strategy” | Is an Internet tax coming? | Italian Judge: Blogs are Illegal | Digital rights groups sue for access to secret ACTA treaty | Berners-Lee W3C Consortium to ‘Authorize’ Website Content? | Digital issues deserve spot in election campaign | Critics waging a cyber offensive to fight copyright changes | Law Professor tells tech conference: plans to shut down Internet already on deck | Bell continues throttling Internet, proposes bandwidth caps for resellers | Rogers Looks For New Ways To Annoy Customers, Hijacks Failed DNS Lookups | MySpace signs up to OpenID scheme | Vint Cerf blasts ISPs for choking off internet infrastructure | Bell’s internet throttling illegal, Google says | Canadian Industry Minister lies about Canadian DMCA on national radio, then hangs up | The Canadian DMCA: Check the Fine Print | Government ready to drop copyright bomb | Transparency needed on ACTA | Net neutrality bill hits House of Commons | Revamped copyright law targets electronic devices | New Attempt to Align Canada’s Copyright Act with USA Coming Soon | CRTC revisits Internet oversight | Bell accused of privacy invasion | Canadian DMCA To Be Introduced Tomorrow Morning?

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