Tag Archives: CISPA

Computers

Anonymous calls for Internet blackout to protest CISPA

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Hacking group Anonymous asked websites to black out their front pages on Monday, in protest against legislation in the U.S. that would allow online companies and government agencies to more easily share personal information.

The protest against the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), meant to start from 6 a.m. GMT, appeared to have little traction early. Anonymous-related accounts called for action on Twitter using the hashtag “#CISPABlackout” and a spattering of minor sites blocked access, including the popular “Funny” category on Reddit.

CISPA is meant to encourage better sharing of information during active cyberattacks. It allows U.S. intelligence agencies to share classified data on cyberthreats with private firms, something that is currently prohibited. It also protects firms that voluntary share cyberthreat information with other firms or the government from privacy lawsuits by users.

Critics say it would allow private companies to share a broad range of customer data with each other and the government. Privacy advocates have also pointed out that it doesn’t require such companies to scrub unnecessary customer information from what is shared. The bill was approved last week in the U.S. House of Representatives, though it must still be passed by the Senate, and advisors to President Barack Obama have promised a veto.

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From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036061/anonymous-calls-for-internet-blackout-to-protest-cispa.html#tk.rss_all

Articles of Interest

Video: House Dismantles Fourth Amendment While America Distracted

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By Daniel Noe

US Department Of Justice Seal SC Justice official: No reading of Miranda rights

While Americans were focusing on the Boston Marathon bombings and defending the Second Amendment to the Constitution from the Senate’s efforts to eliminate guns, the House was busy about the business of destroying the Fourth Amendment.

After two days of debate this week, the House passed CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, by a vote of 288-127, with 18 abstaining. The legislation would allow the federal government to engage private sector firms — think Google — in the business of monitoring your emails, postings and user data for nebulous “threat information” which would then be shared “voluntarily” without need for any sort of warrant.

The IRS and other federal agencies already have policies in place stating their belief that they are allowed to waltz through your data anytime they please, so CISPA seems primarily crafted to protect the Facebooks, Twitters, Yahoos, Sprints and other electronic communications businesses from legal reprisals.

Amendments that would have required data to be made anonymous before being handed over were defeated. Among the defeated amendments was a proposal to allow companies to keep their privacy policies intact and legally enforceable.

Democrat Rep. Jared Polis told CNET that CISPA would ensure that firms that hand over private user data would be “completely exonerated from any risk of liability.”

Read more at Godfather Politics. By Tad Cronn.

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From: http://www.westernjournalism.com/house-dismantles-fourth-amendment-while-america-distracted/

Computers

House approves CISPA over privacy objections

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The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to approve a controversial cyberthreat information-sharing bill, despite opposition from the White House and several privacy and digital rights groups.

The House on Thursday voted 288-127 to approve the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a bill that would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to share cyberthreat information with private companies. It would also shield private companies that voluntarily share cyberthreat information with each other and with government agencies from privacy lawsuits brought by customers.

The bill would still need to be passed by the U.S. Senate before heading to President Barack Obama for his signature. The Senate declined to act on another version of CISPA during the last session of Congress, and earlier this week, Obama‘s advisors threatened a veto, although that was before the House approved a handful of amendments intended to address privacy concerns.

CISPA would allow private companies to share a broad range of customer data with each other and with government agencies, privacy groups have complained.

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From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2035682/house-approves-cispa-over-privacy-objections.html#tk.rss_all

Computers

US House moves toward passage of CISPA

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The U.S. House of Representatives moved closer Wednesday toward the passage of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), despite concerns that the cyberthreat information-sharing bill will allow Web-based companies to share a wide amount of customer information with government agencies.

The House on Wednesday debated several amendments to the bill, some of them minor changes related to what groups government agencies can share cyberthreat information with. The House, in a 227-192 vote Wednesday, rejected efforts by some Democrats to allow additional amendments to overhaul privacy protections in the bill.

The House is scheduled to continue debate on amendments and vote on CISPA Thursday. The bill is likely to pass in the House, even though President Barack Obama has threatened a veto over privacy concerns.

The bill is a backdoor attack on the U.S. Constitution’s fourth amendment prohibiting unreasonable searches, said Representative Jared Polis, a Colorado Democrat. “This is the biggest government takeover of personal information that I’ve seen during my time here in Congress,” he said.

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From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2035648/us-house-moves-toward-passage-of-cispa.html#tk.rss_all

Computers

CISPA sponsor compares opponents to 14-year-olds

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The chief sponsor of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) in the U.S. Congress has ignited a Twitter storm by suggesting many opponents of the proposed cyberthreat sharing bill are 14-year-olds in basements.

The Twitter account for Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, has received thousands of tweets from opponents of the bill since late Tuesday after he said that “if you’re a 14-year-old tweeter in the basement” you don’t understand why Congress needs to pass CISPA. The full U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to begin debate on the controversial bill Wednesday.

Privacy and digital rights groups have objected to the bill, saying it would allow ISPs, email service providers and other businesses to share a wide range of customer information they believe is related to cyberthreats with the U.S. National Security Agency and other government agencies. CISPA would protect businesses sharing cyberthreat information from being sued by customers.

Several websites, including tech policy blog Techdirt picked up on Rogers’ comments, made during debate Tuesday in the House Rules Committee over what amendments should be allowed on the House floor. The comments are included in a short YouTube clip posted by digital rights activist Sina Khanifar.

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From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2035405/cispa-sponsor-compares-opponents-to-14yearolds.html#tk.rss_all

Computers

White House threatens to veto CISPA ahead of vote

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The White House has threatened to veto the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) in its present form, citing concerns that the bill does not adequately prevent sharing of irrelevant personal information.

If the bill in its current form were presented to President Barack Obama, his advisors would recommend that he veto the bill, the executive office of the President said in a statement on Tuesday.

The cyberthreat information-sharing bill, also referred to as H.R. 624, will be debated in the U.S. House of Representatives this week.

The administration said it “recognizes and appreciates” that the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence adopted several amendments to H.R. 624 in an effort to address the administration’s concerns.

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From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2035382/white-house-threatens-to-veto-cispa-ahead-of-vote.html#tk.rss_all

Computers

US House to vote on CISPA cyberthreat bill this week

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The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a controversial cyberthreat information-sharing bill, will be debated on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives this week, despite continued opposition from some privacy and digital rights advocates.

The House will begin debate on the bill Wednesday at about 10 a.m. Debate will continue into Thursday, when a vote on the legislation is expected, according to the House Intelligence Committee. The committee voted 18-2 last Wednesday to approve the amended bill and send it to the House floor.

CISPA would allow private companies, including Internet service providers, banks and e-commerce sites, to share a wide range of customer information they believe is related to cyberthreats with U.S. agencies like the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

The bill would give those businesses protections from lawsuits for sharing customer information, but it does not require companies to make reasonable efforts to remove unrelated private information from the cyberthreat information they share.

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From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2034672/us-house-to-vote-on-cispa-cyberthreat-bill-this-week.html#tk.rss_all

Computers

House to vote on CISPA cyberthreat bill this week

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The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a controversial cyberthreat information-sharing bill, will be debated on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives this week, despite continued opposition from some privacy and digital rights advocates.

From: http://rss.computerworld.com/~r/computerworld/news/feed/~3/YqwgL1kpWfs/House_to_vote_on_CISPA_cyberthreat_bill_this_week

Computers

Critics: CISPA still a government surveillance bill

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A U.S. House of Representatives committee failed to make the changes necessary to allay fears about government surveillance in a controversial cyberthreat sharing bill that’s moving toward a House vote, critics said.

The House Intelligence Committee, in voting 18-2 Wednesday to approve the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), did not address concerns that the bill would allow private companies to share too much customer information with government agencies in the name of fighting cyberattacks, digital rights groups said.

Committee leaders expect the full House to vote on CISPA as soon as next week.

“Cyberhackers from nation-states like China, Russia, and Iran are infiltrating American cyber networks, stealing billions of dollars a year in intellectual property, and undermining the technological innovation at the heart of America’s economy,” Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican and cosponsor of the bill, said in a statement. “This bill takes a solid step toward helping American businesses protect their networks from these cyber looters.”

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From: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2033849/critics-cispa-still-a-government-surveillance-bill.html#tk.rss_all

Computers

Opinion: CISPA isn’t the evil, privacy-infringing legislation you think it is

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A bill that would foster stronger cyber security by enabling government and private sector companies to share information is facing opposition from privacy and civil liberties groups. The controversy is misguided, though, and the legislation is a step in the right direction.

CISPA, or the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, was introduced last year by the ranking members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence—Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD). The legislation‘s goal is to establish a framework for government and private companies to share sensitive information in the effort to identify and block cyber attacks more effectively.

CISPA initially made it through the Senate, buoyed by support from a large number of high-tech companies like AT&T, Comcast, Oracle, Symantec and Microsoft. It later died on the vine, however, over concerns of Big Brother spying on American citizens. But now it’s back again: Last month, its congressional sponsors resurrected the bill in response to high-profile attacks against American targets during the last year.

CISPA is intended to strengthen cyber security, not spy on American citizens.

The CISPA backlash

Yes, the bill is back, but CISPA hasn’t gotten any more popular since last year. The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), and other privacy advocacy groups are aligning to oppose the legislation once again. What’s more, Facebook, an original supporter of the legislation, just rescinded its its support this week.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

News, Politics, Government

Obama's Cybersecurity Executive Order: Heart In The Right Place But There Is Little Teeth

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By Forrester Research, Contributor

On Tuesday, President Obama issued a Cybersecurity Executive Order, which outlined policies to defend against cyber attacks and espionage on US companies and government agencies. The EO came nearly a year after the proposed and much-hated Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) got stalled in the Senate. The privacy community sees the CISPA as a great threat to Internet privacy. Many of them are encouraged by this executive order, which stayed away from suggesting changes to privacy laws and regulations. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

News, Politics, Government

President Obama's Cybersecurity Executive Order Scores Much Better Than CISPA On Privacy

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By Andy Greenberg, Forbes Staff

With the reintroduction of the much-maligned Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act scheduled for the day after the State of the Union, the House of Representatives may have hoped the President’s own cybersecurity initiative would divert some of the attention away from the controversial legislation known as CISPA. Instead, the White House‘s long-awaited executive order on cybersecurity is actually scoring points with the privacy advocates–and putting CISPA in a worse light than ever. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest