Tag Archive for: senate

Panel Discussion: How to Make Security an Enabler of Speed & Growth | Technology Senate

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Panelists in this video:
+ Naseem Halder, CISO, ACKO General Insurance Ltd
+ Debojit Maitra, CISO, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd
+ Sivasubramanian M, Global CIO, VA Tech Wabag Ltd
+ Lokesh Vishwanath, Associate Director, Cyber Security Engineering, GSK
+ Vijay R, CISO, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services
+ Sanjiv Mehta, Country Manager, AMD India
+ Anurag Nalawade, Director, Blancco India
+ Vipul Nayak, Head of GIC’s/GBs & Large Enterprise, Zscaler

Key Highlights:
‌+ Security is a key feature of your products or services. So if you do not scale up in that area, you’ll not be a part of the business growth: Naseem Halder, CISO, ACKO General Insurance Ltd

‌+ Security should be looked at with the angle of response time. Because we need to detect, act, and protect with a faster response time, in an effective way: Debojit Maitra, CISO, Aditya Birla Fashion And Retail Ltd

‌+ The security perimeter is not only your endpoints, but it’s much wider today. Also, with more products, there has to be speed, growth and agility. Therefore, we need to see how we can optimise operations and security solutions: Sivasubramanian M, Global CIO, VA Tech Wabag Ltd

‌+ The businesses have to get their basics right, to have secured network and systems: Lokesh Vishwanath, Associate Director, Cyber Security Engineering, GSK

+ Considering security, the most important aspect is to keep your fundamentals on point. Sustenance is the key: Vijay R, CISO, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services

+ Security and sustainability, that’s where the industry would be focussing in the future: Sanjiv Mehta, Country Manager, AMD India

‌+ Multiple-layer security is anyways an effective implementation, but with more layers, more time is required. Therefore, businesses need to look at their deployments and find a balance to ensure their security as well as response time and agility: Anurag Nalawade, Director, Blancco India

‌+ We need to consider whether we can use one solution to address multiple security issues more closer to the end consumer: Vipul Nayak, Head of GIC’s/GBs & Large Enterprise, Zscaler

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Biden Presses Computer Chips Case in Advance of Senate Vote

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WASHINGTON — 

Calling semiconductors “the building blocks for the modern economy,” President Joe Biden on Monday asked Congress to move quickly and send him a bipartisan bill designed to boost the computer chips industry and high-tech research in the United States.

The Senate was originally expected to take a critical vote in the evening to advance the legislation, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that storms on the East Coast had disrupted travel plans for several senators and that he would be delaying the vote until Tuesday morning. The bill needs support from at least 60 senators to clear procedural hurdles and place it on a path to final passage later this week, giving Biden a signature win on legislation his administration says is necessary to protect national security and help the U.S. better compete with China.

The bill provides about $52 billion in grants and other incentives for the semiconductor industry as well as a 25% tax credit for those companies that build chip plants in the U.S. Supporters say those incentives are necessary to compete with other nations that are also spending billions of dollars to lure manufacturers.

The pandemic has underscored how much the United States relies on semiconductor manufacturers abroad to provide the chips used in automobiles, computers, appliances and weapons systems. The Biden administration has been warning lawmakers they need to act before leaving for their August recess to ensure the companies invest in U.S. fabs instead of building the plants elsewhere.

Biden, who is still recovering from COVID-19, held a virtual roundtable with members of his administration and industry leaders about the merits of the bill. He said that a shortage of semiconductors was the primary driver of rising automobile costs, which are a core component of the inflation gripping the country.

Biden said the U.S. relies on Taiwan for the production of the most advanced chips and that China was also starting to move ahead of the U.S. on the manufacturing of such chips.

“America invented the semiconductor. It’s time to bring it home,” Biden said.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told him that chip manufacturers are…

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Senate ransomware investigation says FBI leaving victims in the lurch

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Written by Tonya Riley
Mar 24, 2022 | CYBERSCOOP

The FBI might be coming up short when helping ransomware victims restore their systems, according to an investigation released Thursday by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s ranking member Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

Senate investigators plumbed three case studies of ransomware attacks against U.S. companies within the past five years. All three companies interviewed for the investigation reported the attacks to the FBI at the time, but only two pursued assistance. All three attacks were committed by REvil, the notorious Russian ransomware gang that drew intense scrutiny from U.S. law enforcement last year after major attacks on software supplier Kaseya and global meat supplier JBS.

The Senate committee report withholds the names of the victims and dates of the attacks to protect victims from potential retaliation from hackers, a committee aide said in a call with reporters. The aide declined to say if the attacks were previously publicly reported.

The report notes that both companies that sought out assistance from the FBI found the response lacking.

“They told the Committee that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) prioritized its investigative efforts into REvil’s operations over protecting the companies’ data and mitigating damage,” the report notes. “Both companies also indicated they did not receive advice on best practices for responding to a ransomware attack or other useful guidance from the Federal Government.”

In the case of “Entity A,” a Fortune 500 company, the FBI reportedly offered a hostage negotiator with no experience in ransomware. Neither of the companies in the report interacted with CISA during their response to the attacks, according to investigators.

There have also been publicly reported cases of the FBI leaving victims in the lurch. The FBI reportedly withheld a decryption key that could have helped hundreds of Kaseya customers in order to not tip off REvil to an operation against the group, The Washington Post reported in September.

When asked about the decision at a Senate Homeland hearing,…

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Senate passes cybersecurity bill amid fears of Russian cyberattacks

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The Senate unanimously passed cybersecurity legislation on Tuesday that would require companies in critical sectors to alert the government of potential hacks or ransomware. 

The Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act, a package of three bills sponsored by Sen. Gary PetersGary PetersHouse passes bill to reform Postal Service operations The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden aims at ISIS terrorists, defends NY police Biden sends DNC dollars to House, Senate committees MORE (D-Mich.), comes as U.S. officials urge the private sector to gear up for possible Russian cyberattacks in retaliation for U.S. sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. 

“Cyber warfare is truly one of the dark arts specialized by Putin and his authoritarian regime. And this bill will help protect us from Putin’s attempted cyberattacks against our country,” said Senate Majority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerFive viral moments from Biden’s State of the Union Schumer goes viral for start-and-stop ovation at State of the Union Democrats press top pharmaceutical representative on price increases MORE (D-NY) following the passage of the legislation. 

One of the bills would require companies to report substantial cyberattacks within 72 hours and ransomware payments within 24 hours to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Another bill in the package would update federal cyber laws to improve coordination between federal agencies. It would also require agencies to share cyber incidents with CISA. 

Last week, CISA officials urged federal agencies and the private sector to remain vigilant against Russian cyberattacks, especially following the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies.

“Every organization—large and small—must be prepared to respond to disruptive cyber activity,” CISA officials said in an updated guidance.

In a statement on the bill’s passage, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark WarnerMark Robert WarnerRussia widely expected to escalate violence in Ukraine Congress races clock on Ukraine aid amid invasion Live coverage: Russian military convoy stretching 40 miles outside Kyiv MORE (D-Va.) said “at a time when we are facing significant threats of…

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