DHS Terminates All Its Advisory Committees, Ending Its Investigation Into Chinese Telecom Hack (arstechnica.com) 27
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Department of Homeland Security has terminated all members of advisory committees, including one that has been investigating a major Chinese hack of large US telecom firms. "The Cyber Safety Review Board -- a Department of Homeland Security investigatory body stood up under a Biden-era cybersecurity executive order to probe major cybersecurity incidents -- has been cleared of non-government members as part of a DHS-wide push to cut costs under the Trump administration, according to three people familiar with the matter," NextGov/FCW reported yesterday.
A memo sent Monday by DHS Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman said that in order to "eliminate[e] the misuse of resources and ensur[e] that DHS activities prioritize our national security, I am directing the termination of all current memberships on advisory committees within DHS, effective immediately. Future committee activities will be focused solely on advancing our critical mission to protect the homeland and support DHS's strategic priorities." The memo said advisory board members terminated this week "are welcome to reapply." The Cyber Safety Review Board's list of members included security experts from the private sector and lead cybersecurity officials from multiple government agencies. "The CSRB was 'less than halfway' done with its Salt Typhoon investigation, according to a now-former member," wrote freelance cybersecurity reporter Eric Geller, who quoted an anonymous source as saying the Cyber Safety Review Board's review of Salt Typhoon is "dead." The former member was also quoted as saying, "There are still professional staff for the CSRB and I hope they will continue some of the work in the interim."
The Cyber Safety Review Board operates under (PDF) the DHS's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), notes Ars. The review board previously investigated a 2023 hack of Microsoft Exchange Online and more recently has been investigating how the Chinese hacking group called Salt Typhoon infiltrated major telecom providers such as Verizon and AT&T.
A memo sent Monday by DHS Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman said that in order to "eliminate[e] the misuse of resources and ensur[e] that DHS activities prioritize our national security, I am directing the termination of all current memberships on advisory committees within DHS, effective immediately. Future committee activities will be focused solely on advancing our critical mission to protect the homeland and support DHS's strategic priorities." The memo said advisory board members terminated this week "are welcome to reapply." The Cyber Safety Review Board's list of members included security experts from the private sector and lead cybersecurity officials from multiple government agencies. "The CSRB was 'less than halfway' done with its Salt Typhoon investigation, according to a now-former member," wrote freelance cybersecurity reporter Eric Geller, who quoted an anonymous source as saying the Cyber Safety Review Board's review of Salt Typhoon is "dead." The former member was also quoted as saying, "There are still professional staff for the CSRB and I hope they will continue some of the work in the interim."
The Cyber Safety Review Board operates under (PDF) the DHS's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), notes Ars. The review board previously investigated a 2023 hack of Microsoft Exchange Online and more recently has been investigating how the Chinese hacking group called Salt Typhoon infiltrated major telecom providers such as Verizon and AT&T.
Cherry picking (Score:4, Insightful)
The OP is cherry-picking one advisory committee from all the committees of DHS.
The actual reasoning is, from a different article, "Biden’s DHS funneled BILLIONS to facilitating illegal immigrants", which is completely true by inspection, overhauling DHS was a campaign promise, and doing so aligns with polling indicating that 66% of Americans want rampant illegal immigration to stop.
(To be fair, polling shows that people disagree on methods and tactics.)
Furthermore, the memo sent around ends with the line "you are welcome to reapply", so for those committees which *weren't* misusing resources, they might be reinstated.
Benjamin Huffman (acting DHS secretary) is acting to overhaul the department, in line with campaign promises and what a lot of people want.
This is news, but it's slanted to provoke outrage.
Basically, cherry picking.
Re: (Score:1)
which is completely true by inspection
i.e., it's made up bullshit, but it feels true. Truthiness is still here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Did you hear what was going on with the number of elephants in Africa?
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
Oh, please. CSRB is not the only committee affected, here's a list of more:
Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board
Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council
National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee
National Infrastructure Advisory Council
USSS Cyber Investigations Advisory Board
Basically, the move isn't unexpected - China has your new leader by the balls, because most of his production capacity is in China, and if the choice is between
Re: (Score:1)
The truth derangement syndrome is strong among the MAGAts.
Re:Cherry picking (Score:5, Informative)
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Are you familiar with the saying about babies and bath water?
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how about the one about stripping something down and building it back up again? doesn't mean you lose the good parts. you put the working good parts back in with other good ones after taking the crap out.
That said... "I hope...."
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Yeah, we saw that with the previous incarnation of republicans in Iraq. They stripped it down to nothing and rebuilt it into ISIS.
That was a good job, and this promises to be even better.
Re:Cherry picking (Score:5, Insightful)
You seem to be admitting that the DOGEbags are using a sledge hammer when tweezers are warranted.
So yes, they should be cherry-picking instead of burning the entire grove.
Re: (Score:1)
You seem to be admitting that the DOGEbags are using a sledge hammer when tweezers are warranted.
So yes, they should be cherry-picking instead of burning the entire grove.
What else do you expect from fascist pigs hell-bent on the destruction of America as a nation?
They won't get their reward from Putin unless they do the whole job they were assigned to do, you know.
Re: Cherry picking (Score:2)
You voted for "tough on China" (Score:5, Insightful)
But you got meme coins and Gulf of America instead.
Can't say we didn't warn you before the election.
Don = Goof of America (Score:2)
or at least of 'Lago.
They’ll save tons of money (Score:5, Insightful)
Let’s forget that these were advisory committees, meaning they were staffed by subject matter experts and high profile people in very important policy areas who probably charge a huge amount per hour, but were volunteering their time for free in order to help the government deal with thorny topics.
Think of all the money Elon and Donald saved doing this.
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Gotta build that wall, man. And I'm not talking about the one everyone else is talking about. I mean the one they are building around themselves. Can't have snitches exposing (insert madness here) for everyone to see.
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You don't need subject matter experts when you got the bigly big brains of the Donald and the Elon. They're experts on everything!
Outsource it? (Score:3)
What it means (Score:3)
The Salt Typhoon attackers are admittedly still securely embedded in the telcos, have access to whatever they want, and we don't know how to get them out. The federal team investigating this to come up with a solution was sacked. What does that tell you about this incoming administration?
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They are leaving America open to attack, so that they can use it as an excuse to give trumpy war-time powers, what else?
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What does that tell you about this incoming administration?
That they place no value on self-evidently useless DHS cybersecurity that a.) failed to prevent the attack and b.) can't figure out how to end it.
Seems wise. Try some approach other than funding an army of work-from-home DEI hires that are clearly no match for the Chinese.
DHS used to be a bad word around here. Back when Bush II created it because terrorism the rage was white hot. Now, apparently, we're all supposed to love the DHS...
You want secure telecoms? Punish the telecoms for their incompete
Not as dumb as it sounds (Score:1)