Privileged Identity Management News Line October 2010

Top of Mind

Legislation: A Good First Step to Cybersecurity Leadership

Philip Lieberman
President & CEO
Lieberman Software

A year can make a big difference in technology – and in politics. A year ago, the federal government was failing badly at establishing a leadership position in cybersecurity. Interim cybersecurity czar Melissa Hathaway had resigned amid delays to appoint a full-time federal director. The politicians were thinking about anything but the defense of our nation’s computing infrastructure. And the attacks kept rolling in.

Fortunately, things for the good guys have improved. We’ve got a veteran in Howard Schmidt firmly established in the federal cybersecurity leadership role. And, more importantly, the legislators are working hard to give him and other security leaders within the government enough authority, tools and cash to actually make a difference in the fight for digital ground.

I’ve long been an advocate of establishing cybersecurity laws that have teeth and authority to prevent and deter attacks to our infrastructure. I believe that the drafts that we’re seeing of Senator Joe Lieberman’s Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010 are a good first effort from legislators in order to do that.

The law provides guidance and authority to establish a cabinet level position in cybersecurity with authority, staff and budget to carry out important security initiatives. And it also provides considerable prescriptive guidance in the way the government deals with known infected computers that are perpetuating attacks against national infrastructure.

I especially find the first point extremely refreshing. The fact that at the executive level we are going to provide accountability for both success and failure of different federal agencies in regard to whether or not they achieve security is encouraging. The bill is quite specific – when agencies don't achieve security requirements, their leaders are subject to loss of bonuses and loss of incentive pay.

Read the rest of “Legislation a good first step to cybersecurity leadership” in SC Magazine.

What do you think? Email me at: phil@liebsoft.com.

Tech Tip of the Month

Securing Application Credentials

Enterprise Random Password Manager continuously secures embedded passwords in web application tiers, packaged software programs, line-of-business applications, custom programs and more – automatically changing embedded passwords according to rules that you define for complexity and change frequency, and synchronizing all changes across interdependent tiers to prevent lockouts and service disruptions. Learn More.

Events / Press / Analysts

Microsoft TechEd Europe 2010: November 8-12, 2010. Berlin, Germany. Come by our booth and see a demonstration of our Enterprise Random Password Manager!

Lieberman Software Grows Worldwide Sales Through Expanded Global Partner Program. In addition to Aquion, other recent additions to Lieberman Software’s international partner program include NetBR and Secure1 Technology in Brazil, Nanjgel Solutions in Dubai, Magix Integration in South Africa, INSERTO AG in Switzerland, PRIOLAN and IBV Informatik GmbH in Germany and GE Multitech in the United Arab Emirates.

New Video from Lieberman Software Explains Privileged Identities in Plain Language. View this 7.5 minute YouTube video entitled “Privileged Identities Explained”.

PODCAST: The Impact of Evolving Cybersecurity Threats. Philip Lieberman talks about his experiences as an advisor on the Lieberman-Collins cybersecurity bill and the next steps in this legislative process, cybersecurity threats to the utilities industry, the problems associated with a shortage of domestic IT security professionals, and his extensive experience helping secure data in government agencies, military organizations, and private industry. (14:37)

Biggest insider threat? Sys admin gone rogue. Network World. The Lieberman password-manager software is sometimes referred to as a type of "firecall" tool that gives top IT managers a way to approve accounts for elevated rights of domain temporarily. It requires multiple individuals with manager status to approve any elevation of account.

Google Could Drive Mobile Two-Factor Authentication Model. Dark Reading. "How many people are going to want to take an SMS message every time they want to log into their e-mail?" says Phil Lieberman, founder of Lieberman Software. "It's impractical for e-mail, which is something you're accessing all day long. And any security that is inconvenient will generally not be used and discarded.