The nation has a new federal agency. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was created out of several existing organizations within the DHS. The CISA was codified by a law signed by the President on 16 November 2018.
I read what DHS said about CISA (see more here). Then thought I should spend a little time digging deeper into the actual text of the legislation to see more. When I did I was pleasantly surprised! The text of the law is really short and sweet. It is so short I pasted all of it here:
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2017
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to redesignate the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) National Protection and Programs Directorate as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
CISA shall be headed by the Director of National Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security, and CISA’s responsibilities include: leading cybersecurity and critical infrastructure security programs, operations, and associated policy; coordinating with non-federal and federal entities; and carrying out DHS’s responsibilities concerning chemical facility antiterrorism standards.
CISA shall be composed of DHS components reorganized as: (1) the Cybersecurity Division, (2) the Infrastructure Security Division, and (3) the Emergency Communications Division (currently the Office of Emergency Communications). The agency must have a privacy officer to ensure compliance with federal laws.
(Sec. 3) The bill transfers within DHS the Office of Biometric Identity Management to the Directorate for Management, and it authorizes the transfer of the Federal Protective Service to any DHS component, directorate, or other office that DHS deems appropriate.
(Sec. 5) No additional funds are authorized to carry out this bill’s requirements.
Coincidently I was just talking to my friend Paul Becker about how short and sweet is usually the best communication. He had just shared a post on Twitter about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which was given on Nov 19, 1863 (I forgot to ask Paul if he was there to hear it!). The entire address was only 272 words. Short and sweet!
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Nov 19, 1863. 272 words. T3 Lessons: TEAMWORK: No use of "I," only "We" / "Our." TONE: "This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom." TENACITY: "Govt of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Amen. pic.twitter.com/5qOWz8wLt8
— Paul Becker (@BeckerT3Group) November 19, 2018
To the drafters of the CISA legislation, thank you for setting a good example. Would love it if the rest of Congress follows your lead and returns to the short and sweet model of legislation.
To DHS: Best of luck to you all in the standup of this new organization, all of us here at CTOvision are pulling for you and look forward to you making a difference in cyberspace.
More on Cyberwar and Cybersecurity:
- The Cyberwar and Cybersecurity Weekly
- Cyberwar Is Now A 3-Way Cage Fight
- Napoleon: War Is Ninety Percent Information (which means all war Is cyberwar)
- Sun Tzu: Opportunities multiply as they are seized
- Hannibal: I will either find a way or make one
- Now That You Are A Soldier In The Cyber War You Must Know Your Cognitive Biases
- Inform Your Cybersecurity Strategy With Lessons From July 1861
- Cyber War: The Fastest Way to Improve Cybersecurity?
- Iran’s Hacker Hierarchy Exposed: The Islamic Republic of Iran Makes Maximum Use of Contractors and Universities to Conduct Cyber Operations
- OODAloop nails it again with reporting on Bitcoin price manipulation
- Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Targeting Network Infrastructure Devices
- Sun Tzu: Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
SciFi:
- HBO’s Westworld: The Man In Black is a special kind of Twitter user
- Elon Musk, Our Kwisatz Haderach, Cites Frank Herbert
- I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it.
- Lessons of Science Fiction Computer Interfaces
- Electric Dreams: Amazon Turns Philip K. Dick Short Stories Into 10 Standalone Movies
- Thiel, Hoffman, and Spiderman Ethics
Robots:
- Robots Keep Evolving: New Capabilities of Boston Dynamics Robotic Dog Are Amazing
- Boston Dynamics RoboDog Has A New Skill: Terrifying, But Potentially Lifesaving
