Monthly Archives: May 2018

5 Points. Texas Cyber Security Experts Tell Texas What to Do.

Which Texas cybersecurity experts signed this letter to the Texas Secretary of State?

  • Scott Aaronson, Professor, University of Texas at Austin
  • Chris Bronk, Assistant Professor, University of Houston
  • Alvaro Cardenas, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Dallas
  • Guofei Gu, Associate Professor, Texas A&M
  • Murat Kantarcioglu, Professor, University of Texas at Dallas
  • Jiang Ming, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Arlington
  • Dan S. Wallach, Professor, Rice University
  • Brent…

Local TREND. Primary Election Hacked in the Iris State

Local May 2018 election that was hacked:  Knox County, Tennessee primary for mayor &  local races

What kind of hack was used?  A DDoS attack routed through 65 countries

Translation of the hack? A lot of computers from all over the world tried to access the web server for the election from 7pm to 10pm causing the election site to crash

Politico |  WHAT HAPPENED IN TENNESSEE: 

The German Response to Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Hackers

Who is offering the suggested solution to combat hackers? The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence service

What is the proposed solution to combat hackers of Germany’s critical infrastructure? to plant malware that gets triggered when the critical infrastructure is hacked.

What does that mean in non-tech term? Fight back by hacking back. 

dw.com | German intelligence head warns of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure

 

1st State. Data Insurance Law. Regulator Initiated. Your shortcut to being informed:

South Carolina’s  H4655 (2018 | SC) will:

  • require insurers to establish “strong and aggressive” program to protect companies from a data breach
  • require insurers to establish “strong and aggressive” program to protect consumers from a data breach
  • what does it cover?  
    • rules for insurers, agents and other licensed entities covering data security
    • investigation and notification of breach
    • maintaining an information security program based on ongoing risk assessment
    • overseeing third-party…

3 Reasons for Veto of Data Security Bill that Tech Companies Opposed. 4 Steps to a Successful Bill in Veto Statement.

Georgia Governor Deal vetoed  SB315 (2018 | GA)  because:

  • the bill could undermined national security
  •  harmed private businesses’ efforts to stop hackers
  • Georgia needs more discussion on this bill

A future data security bill should:

  • develop a comprehensive policy
  • promoting national security
  • protecting online information
  • continuing to advance Georgia’s position as a leader in the technology industry

Veto Statement on SB 315 May 8, 2018 Georgia Governor Deal

Politically Georgia | Computer…

4 Ways Election Integrity = Hacker Proof in the rhododendron state

West Virigina is securing its voting maschines from hackers by:

  • West Virginia Air National Guard, with top secret clearance, actively tracks hackers
  • West Virigina Secretary of State is prioritizing data security
  • Intelligence Fusion Center, a nexus of state and federal law-enforcement and intelligence officials who handle threats ranging from floods to cyberattacks.
  • State law requires that hand-countable paper ballots be used in every election

New York Times | How West Virginia Is Trying to…

Lege TREND. Colorado Bill Supporting Blockchain. What you Need to know. Agencies Impacted. Data Impacted.

Colorado Legislature passes SB18-086 to require 3 governmental entities:

  • governor’s office of information technology (OIT)
  • department of state
  • department of regulatory agencies

to consider using encryption techniques and blockchain tech in order to protect:

confidential state records.

The bill also requires Colorado to accept business filings in distirbuted ledger (blockchain).

Colorado SB18-086

Cointelegraph | Colorado Passes Bill Advocating Blockchain For Gov’t Data Protection And…

Campaign TREND begets Regulatory TREND. An Ethics Commission + Campaign Contributions in Bitcoin = Regulations

State: Wisconsin

What did Wisconsin’s Ethics Commission do about bitcoin campaign contributions? The Ethics Commission Administrator asked the Legislature to make a determination on how to handle bitcoin contributions

What 2 policy reasons did the Ethics Commission give to the Legislature? 

  • “provide clarity to candidates and committees as to whether they may accept contributions of cryptocurrency.”
  • concern over the anonimity of bitcoin contributions

What prompted bitcoin as campaign…