UPDATED 08:25 EDT / DECEMBER 28 2012

Cybersecurity Predictions for 2013: From Legislature to Attacks

It seems cyberattacks and hacktivists ruled the headlines in 2012, and for good reason.  Now the government’s getting involved, trying to determine the best way to handle digital threats.  SiliconAngle contributing editor John Cassaretto made an appearance on our NewsDesk program to cover the state of Cybersecurity in the government, where lawmakers are debating new policies to improve data protection in the public sector and prepare for increasingly aggressive cyber attacks that may jeopardize critical infrastructure in the U.S. cyber warfare many experts expect. You can find the full video on our channel.

Cassaretto kicks off the session with his angle on the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, a proposal that is bouncing between the Senate and White House today but may receive approval within the next 12 months. The act outlines a government-wide security alert system that would allow rapid sharing of relevant information between agencies whenever a serious online threat rears its ugly head.

While this sounds promising on paper, Cassaretto says that it leaves too many questions unanswered. There’s no word on how much this project would cost, for one, and specific details have mostly been left out. But he believes that the bill still has a string chance to pass because many approach it not in terms of how much it will cost, but how much it would save in case hackers launch an offensive on utilities, financial institutions or corporations that play a vital role in the U.S economy.

Cassaretto brings up Project X, a DARPA intiative aimed at mapping all the networks on the web, and mentions the ‘do not track’ button the FCC is pushing to try and limit the effectiveness of intrusive cookies. He believes that this is highly impractical for a variety of reasons, which is the last thing that can be said of the next talking points.

The analyst brings up an emerging, government-funded academic project that focuses on creating surveillance systems with embedded predicative analytics capabilities. He has no doubt that such technology could prove to be highly advantageous for law enforcement agencies, but stresses that it may redefine what we consider privacy infringement.

See the full video below, and be sure to check out some of Cassaretto’s other predictions for 2013 here.


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