Saturday, May 30, 2009

Susan Boyle 1st Runner-up 'Britain's Got Talent'!

Susan Boyle Fans can email Queen Elizabeth at: webeditor@royal.gsx.gov.uk  Perhaps Ms Boyle will receive a special invitation to perform for her Majesty.

May 30, 2009

 

Susan Boyle lost Britain's Got Talent to the ten-person dance crew Diversity. "Lads, I wish you all the best," said Boyle graciously. It was a stunning loss. Boyle took second place in the voting.

Boyle chose to sing again the song that first brought her fame, "I Dreamed a Dream." Dressed in a blue gown and saying that this performance represented "forty years of doin,'" the Scottish sensation gave this final performance:

Given all the publicity Boyle received here in the States, it wasn't clear to many of us just how close the competition has been all along. To American eyes, the hip-hop dance-troupe Diversity looks pretty ordinary, don't you agree? But judge Simon Cowell hailed them as "the only act tonight I'd give a '10' to" and "sheer and utter perfection." Judge for yourself:

 

Diversity will perform before the Queen Elizabeth II in the Royal Variety Show and wins 100,000 pounds (about $159,000).

What do you think of the results? What do you think the future holds for Susan Boyle?

Piers Morgan's blog: http://www.officialpiersmorgan.com/

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The Daily Sandbox!: Speculation, Rumors and Whispers - Who could become the Cyber Tsar – Will Willie Win?

The Daily Sandbox!: Speculation, Rumors and Whispers - Who could become the Cyber Tsar – Will Willie Win?

Speculation, Rumors and Whispers - Who could become the Cyber Tsar – Will Willie Win?

By Kevin M. Nixon, MSA, CISSP©, CISM©, CGEIT©

Got to thinking about all of the speculation, rumors and whispers, circulating around Washington DC tonight about who is on the short list with Tsar-like skills.   

First, disregard all of the qualifications, in-depth security knowledge etc. that are on the typical everyday run of the mill Tsar Job Postings.

Think about alternative candidates that have additional supplemental income to take the sting out of that capitated $150K pay grade.  Perhaps someone retired from the military, perhaps someone who has retained top level security clearance while in the private sector.  Perhaps someone with experience dealing with huge software suppliers and with experience in Government Relations and Federal Programs with companies located in Washington State.  And certainly someone with former responsibility for sales, business development, and the capture/proposal process for public sector opportunities.  Consider also, someone with experience developing a company's Network Centric Systems, for Military Integration and Transformation.  After all of those additional qualifications, perhaps someone currently in the private sector with very close government ties.  

willieRear Admiral Robert C. “Willie” Williamson, USN (Ret) joined Raytheon, Network Centric Systems in March 2004. He assumed the newly created position of Director, Naval Integration and Transformation and was assigned additional responsibilities as the Director of Business Development for Integrated Communications Systems (ICS) in December 2004. Currently, Willie is the vice president of International Programs for Integrated Communications Systems (ICS).paul Kurtz

Another Washington whisper includes Paul B. Kurtz, a recognized cyber security and homeland security expert. He served in senior positions on the White House's National Security and Homeland Security Councils under Presidents Clinton and Bush and is currently an on-air consultant to CBS News.   Paul Kurtz, is currently a Partner and security consultant with Arlington, Va.-based Good Harbor Consulting.  

Roger Cressey Good Harbor Consulting Good Harbor Consulting, LLC was founded in 2002 by Good Harbor President Roger W. Cressey after he served in cyber security and counterterrorism positions in the Clinton and Bush administrations. He sought to establish a boutique consulting firm combining public and private sector knowledge and experience to develop a unique offering for government and commercial clients.

In 2003, Richard A. Clarke joined as Chairman of the firm and John S. Tritak joined as CEO. Clarke, an internationally recognized expert on security, including homeland security, national security, cyber security, and counterterrorism, has served the last three U.S. Presidents as a senior White House advisor. Prior to his 11 consecutive White House years, Clarke served for 19 years in the Pentagon, the Intelligence Community, and State Department.

So, President Obama has a number of players sitting on the bench and ready to play the game.  But something just keeps nagging me as I tried to figure out who might have the best odds in Vegas.  Add all of those ingredients together, stir and filtered and studied and still came up with Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Robert C. "Willie" Williamson. 

Just as I had noticed the mysterious change in Melissa Hathaway’s title on the White House Blog, at the moment that the President was speaking, I also noticed something very interesting, “Why would Raytheon remove Rear Admiral Williamson’s distinguished service Bio from the corporate website?”  Will Raytheon be doing an executive search for a new VP of International Programs?  (Just imagine job search skills would include:  “Successful candidate should possess Tsar like qualities and drive for advancement.)

It just seems to me that if one studies the subtle, nuance moves which Washington perfected and patented it would seems that Willie is the pick.  That is just my personal opinion and random thinking.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Washington is Whispering

Speculation, Rumors and Whispers - Who could become the Cyber Tsar

Got to thinking about all of the speculation, rumors and whispers, circulating around Washington DC tonight about who is on the short list with Tsar-like skills.   

First, disregard all of the qualifications, in-depth security knowledge etc. that are on the typical everyday run of the mill Tsar Job Postings.

Think about alternative candidates that have additional supplemental income to take the sting out of that capitated $150K pay grade.  Perhaps someone retired from the military, perhaps someone who has retained top level security clearance while in the private sector.  Perhaps someone with experience dealing with huge software suppliers and with experience in Government Relations and Federal

Programs with companies located in Washington State.  And certainly someone with former responsibility for sales, business development, and the capture/proposal process for public sector opportunities.  Consider also, someone with experience developing a company's Network Centric Systems, for Military Integration and Transformation.  After all of those additional qualifications, perhaps someone currently in the private sector with very close government ties.  

Add all of those ingredients together, stir and filter.  One name comes to pops to the top of the list.  Wonder if Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Robert C. "Willie" Williamson is considering his time with Raytheon might be limited.  That is just my personal opinion and random thinking.

 

Is she or isn’t she – America’s New Cybersecurity Tsarina?

By Kevin M. Nixon, MSA, CISSP©, CISM©, CGEIT©

Information Security Resources staff had received an advance copy of the official White House Press Release (05/29/2009) and was all ears today during President Obama’s East Room remarks on the highly anticipated and long awaited release of the “Cyberspace Policy Review: Assuring a Trusted and Resilient Information and Communications Infrastructure”. The report has become known as “The Hathaway 60-Day Report” in “homage” to Melissa Hathaway, the person President Obama picked as “Acting Senior Director for Cyberspace of the National Security Council (NSC) and the Homeland Security Council (HSC)”. Not only did the President bestow a title too long to technically print on a normal sized business card, also he gave her a the shortest runway I have ever seen to assemble recommendations, gain consensus, and publish a report for the Chief Executive. Just pulling together all agencies, departments, stove-piped information while overcoming all the turf battles can only be likened to attempting a huge worm wrestle.

Ms Hathaway accomplished the task and delivered the goods and so everyone anticipated that the President would recognize her “get it done” work ethic and also announce from the East Room today, her appointment as America’s Cybersecurity Tsarina. However, everyone holding their breath in the East Room today probably passed out from lack of oxygen. The President was blatantly and conspicuously silent on his appointment.

The President’s silence left everyone wondering “does she or doesn’t she” and left reports attempting to find any hints of the President’s plan. ISR think that we may be on to something. As POTUS stepped in front of the gathered experts, somewhere in the back offices of the White House there was a shadowy figure hunkered over a keyboard waiting for the exact moment to press enter and publish an article on the White House Blog. Could that person have even been sitting in the East Room audience with the President holding onto her three Blackberry devices just waiting for President Obama to give the secret word or phrase to “press the send” button?

We may never know, but President Obama did acknowledge Melissa Hathaway at about the same time that an article by her was posted on the White House Blog. What is noticeable is in Ms Hathaway’s article is her title in the article’s by-line. Gone is “Melissa Hathaway, Acting Senior Director for Cyberspace of the National Security Council (NSC) and the Homeland Security Council (HSC)”. The new by-line reads: Melissa Hathaway, Cybersecurity Chief at the National Security Council.

Which still leaves us wondering and waiting? Is the White House making new robes as the Catholic church does when a new Pope is elected or has Ms Hathaway been appointed “Camerlingo” (1st runner up in a papal contest). Guess we will just have to wait. Melissa Hathaway’s Blog post “Security Our Digital Future” is re-published on the ISR website.


Securing Our Digital Future

Melissa Hathaway, Cybersecurity Chief at the National Security Council, discusses securing our nation's digital future:

Published: FRI, MAY 29, 10:00 AM EST -- The White House Blog

The globally-interconnected digital information and communications infrastructure known as cyberspace underpins almost every facet of modern society and provides critical support for the U.S. economy, civil infrastructure, public safety and national security.  The United States is one of the global leaders on embedding technology into our daily lives and this technology adoption has transformed the global economy and connected people in ways never imagined.  My boys are 8 and 9 and use the Internet daily to do homework, blog with their friends and teacher, and email their mom; it is second nature to them.  My mom and dad can read the newspapers about their daughter on-line and can reach me anywhere in the world from their cell phone to mine.  And people all over the world can post and watch videos and read our blogs within minutes of completion.  I can’t imagine my world without this connectivity and I would bet that you cannot either.   Now consider that the same networks that provide this connectively also increasingly help control our critical infrastructure.  These networks deliver power and water to our households and businesses, they enable us to access our bank accounts from almost any city in the world, and they are transforming the way our doctors provide healthcare.  For all of these reasons, we need a safe Internet with a strong network infrastructure and we as a nation need to take prompt action to protect cyberspace for what we use it for today and will need in the future.

Protecting cyberspace requires strong vision and leadership and will require changes in policy, technology, education, and perhaps law.  The 60-day cyberspace policy review summarizes our conclusions and outlines the beginning of a way forward in building a reliable, resilient, trustworthy digital infrastructure for the future.  There are opportunities for everyone—individuals, academia, industry, and governments—to contribute toward this vision.  During the review we engaged in more than 40 meetings and received and read more than 100 papers that informed our recommendations.   As you will see in our review there is a lot of work for us to do together and an ambitious action plan to accomplish our goals.  It must begin with a national dialogue on cybersecurity and we should start with our family, friends, and colleagues.

We are late in addressing this critical national need and our response must be focused, aggressive, and well-resourced.  We have garnered great momentum in the last few months, and the vision developed in our review is based on the important input we received from industry, academia, the civil liberties and privacy communities, others in the Executive Branch, State governments, Congress, and our international partners.  We now have a strong and common view of what is needed to achieve change.   Ensuring that cyberspace is sufficiently resilient and trustworthy to support U.S. goals of economic growth, civil liberties and privacy protections, national security, and the continued advancement of democratic institutions requires making cybersecurity a national priority.

THE WHITE HOUSE - Cyberspace Policy Review: Assuring a Trusted and Resilient Information and Communications Infrastructure

Office of the Press Secretary
_____________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          May 29, 2009

Below is a fact sheet and list of expected attendees at today’s event:

FACT SHEET
In February 2009, President Obama directed the National Security Council (NSC) and Homeland Security Council to conduct a 60-day review of the plans, programs, and activities underway throughout government that address our communications and information infrastructure (i.e., "cyberspace"), in order to develop a strategic framework to ensure that the U.S. government’s initiatives in this area are appropriately integrated, resourced, and coordinated.

Threats to the information and communications infrastructure pose one of the most serious economic and national security challenges of the 21st Century for the United States and our allies.  In this environment, the status quo is no longer acceptable, and a national dialogue on cybersecurity must begin today.  The U.S. Government cannot succeed in securing cyberspace in isolation, but it also cannot entirely delegate or abrogate its role in securing the Nation from a cyber incident or accident.  Ensuring that cyberspace is sufficiently resilient and trustworthy to support U.S. goals of economic growth, civil liberties and privacy protections, national security, and the continued advancement of global democratic institutions requires working with individuals, academia, industry, and governments.  We must make cybersecurity a national priority and lead from the White House.

The review team’s report to the President contains five main chapters, outlined below, and includes a near-term action plan for U.S. Government activities to strengthen cybersecurity.

       (U) Chapter I: Leading from the Top – Makes the case for strengthening cybersecurity    leadership for the United States through 1) the establishment of a Presidential cybersecurity policy official and supporting structures, 2) reviewing laws and policies, and 3) strengthening cybersecurity leadership and accountability at federal, state, local, and tribal levels.
       (U) Chapter II: Building Capacity for a Digital Nation – Advocates a national dialogue on cybersecurity to increase public awareness of the threats and risks and how to reduce them.  Outlines the need for increased education efforts at all levels to ensure a technologically advanced workforce in cybersecurity and related areas, similar to the United States’ focus on mathematics and science education in the 1960s.  Identifies the need to expand and improve the federal information technology workforce and for the Federal government to facilitate programs and information sharing on cybersecurity threats, vulnerabilities, and effective practices across all levels of government and industry.
        (U) Chapter III: Sharing Responsibility for Cybersecurity – Discusses the need for improving and expanding partnerships between the Federal government and both the private sector and key U.S. allies.
        (U) Chapter IV: Creating Effective Information Sharing and Incident Response – The United States needs a comprehensive framework to facilitate coordinated responses by government, the private sector, and allies to a significant cyber incident.  This chapter explores elements of such a framework and suggests enhancements to information sharing mechanisms to improve incident response capabilities.
        (U) Chapter V: Encouraging Innovation – The chapter addresses ways for the United States to harness the benefits of innovation to address cybersecurity concerns, including work with the private sector to define performance and security objectives for future infrastructure, linking research and development to infrastructure development and expanding coordination of government, industry, and academic research efforts.  It also addresses supply chain security and national security / emergency preparedness telecommunications efforts.

Expected attendees at today’s East Room event:

Secretary Steven Chu, Department of Energy
Secretary  Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security
General James Jones, National Security Advisor
Deputy Secretary William Lynn, Department of Defense
Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin, Department of Treasury
Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council
Lynne Osmus, Acting Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration
Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Michael Copps, Acting Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
Jon Leibowitz, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission
James Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Robert Mueller, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
John P. Holdren, Director of the Office of Science and Technology
John Kimmons, Lieutenant-general, Director of National Intelligence Office
John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, Chair of National Governors Association, Homeland Security Committee
Congressman Bart Gordon
Congressman Peter King
William Pelgrin, Chair of the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center
Heather Hogsett, National Governors Association, Director, Public  Safety and Homeland Security Office of Federal Relations

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