Top senator blasts US Homeland Security for leaving cyber-drawbridge down

A member of the US Senate's Homeland Security Committee has slammed the Department of Homeland Security over America's cyber-defenses: Tom Coburn (R-OK) said the agency is failing to protect the nation's IT infrastructure despite at least $700m in funding. "The nature of cybersecurity threats – and the ability of adversaries …

[Mark 85]

Coburn said the system hunts for simple malware signatures – so good luck catching customized software nasties, zero-days, and polymorphic, encrypted code.

So what the hell did they do? Contract EINSTIEN out to Symantec and use the rest for powerpoint slides, coffee and donuts for meetings?

[Anonymous Coward]

No one knows, but obviously not Coburn who is clearly reading from someones script. Nothing says "I'm justifying my job by quoting other peoples writings" better than a long drawn out sentence.

"The nature of cybersecurity threats – and the ability of adversaries to continuously develop new tools to defeat network defenses – means that DHS’s strategy for cybersecurity, which focuses primarily on vulnerability mitigation, will not protect the nation from the most sophisticated attacks and cybersecurity threats,"

That might not even be the end of the sentence. None the less, if you read it closely you'll notice it states nothing about...having nothing (if even that much). So, just another day.

[Alistair]

OMG terrists! cyberterrists! crimminils! Geehadis!

We need more bodies, we need more munnies, we need more, more, more! (kickbacks!)

[Gray]

About as effective as the intelligence community ...

you know, those folks who gave us timely warning about 9-11, the Boston Bomber, Benghazi, Syria, ISIS, etc, etc. It's always comforting to know that if we need better results, we only need toss more $$$ and resources at it.

(DHS awhile back asked my neighbor to keep watch from his veranda overlooking the channel on the backside of our Pacific NW island, to be alert for swarthy, bearded men wearing turbans and carrying AK-47s in speedboats ... looking suspicious.)

[Destroy All Monsters]

Bureaucratic ultra-pork lovers in "can't perform" moment. Film at 11.

"Coburn's dossier notes that the DHS bagged $61bn"

Fuck me, those luxury mansion pools must be VAST.

Considering that the Department of Heimland Sicherheit was created by Bush as a super-bureaucracy layer on top of the bureaucracy layers of the TLAs that had utterly failed prior to 9/11 with the sole justificiation of doling out the dollars rolling off the printing presses after the post-Greenspan-Bubble pop, I would say: "Mission Accomplished".

[ratfox]

Re: Bureaucratic ultra-pork lovers in "can't perform" moment. Film at 11.

Don't forget that the Department of Homeland Security is also in charge of enforcing copyright law! And, somehow, fighting money counterfeiters.

[Pascal Monett]

"fighting money counterfeiters"

Don't forget that that is the mandate of the Secret Service. You know, the guys who also have the protection of the President in their list of duties.

In other words, par for the course for US agencies.

[Tom 13]

Re: Bureaucratic ultra-pork lovers in "can't perform" moment. Film at 11.

Not W's fault. He wanted to keep it separate, but Dems wanted it all pulled together in one huge fustercluck. At that point he was still trying to play nice and accepted the proposal, but he certainly wasn't the one pushing it.

[JCitizen]

This is probably why he is outgoing...

HA!!