Congress doesn’t see cybersecurity’s sex appeal

Federal Drive

Congress doesn’t see cybersecurity’s sex appeal

Google denies use of private data, Adobe warns of critical security flaw in its products

Federal News Network Staff

June 8, 2010 8:30 am

2 min read

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During an administration that has declared cybersecurity a major national security issue, cyber security is apparently not a very high profile issue in Congress. Government Computer News reports, at last count, there were more than 40 bills, resolutions and amendments dealing with cybersecurity pending in the House and Senate. They offer funding for cybersecurity research and development, establish new consumer protections, update government regulations, and create new executive oversight authority. But none of the bills seems to be heading for passage anytime soon. And by this date in an election year, “soon” may be the only time left. With the campaign season already under way and summer recesses coming up, the 111th Congress soon will be history, and everything would then need to start over.
Google representatives say they’re working with authorities to address privacy concerns over its mapping service. The Economic Times reports Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is urging the search engine company to reveal whether it illegally collected data from state personal and business wireless computer networks for the Street View feature. Google says its Wi-Fi collection and Street View feature are unrelated.
New vulnerability reports from Adobe Systems. The company issued an alert Friday about flaws in Flash Player, Adobe Reader and Acrobat products being actively exploited in the wild. Adobe said the flaw could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of a system, but didn’t say when a patch would be available. Search Security.com reports, anti-virus researchers confirmed they’ve seen malicious files exploiting the vulnerability. The problems are found in Flash Player 10.0.45.2 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris operating systems. Also affected is a DLL file that ships with Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x for Windows, Macintosh and Unix.

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