U.S. Senators call for executive order to boost cybersecurity of nation's critical infrastructure

United States Senators Richard Blumenthal (of Connecticut) and Chris Coons (of Delaware) have written a letter to President Barack Obama requesting that he issue an executive order dealing with cybersecurity. In a press release, Senator Blumenthal's office explained that he and Senator Coons "were part of a bipartisan effort to build consensus on critical infrastructure provisions of the Cybersecurity Act of 2012," and said that an executive order could "begin addressing the urgent need to improve the cybersecurity capabilities of the nation's critical infrastructure."

In particular, the release said the legislative effort to pass the Cybersecurity Act advanced the case for "a voluntary system for owners of key power, transportation and communication facilities to coordinate with the federal government on the strengthening of their cyber defenses."

The letter to President Obama states, "the failure of Congress to act should not prevent the executive branch from taking available steps to counter the enormous and growing cyber threat," and acknowledged, "We recognize that an order directing the promulgation of voluntary standards cannot and should not be the final word in cybersecurity ... A well-crafted set of voluntary standards could, however, be an important step towards improving the cybersecurity of our nation's critical infrastructure."

The letter also affirms the senators' commitment to work toward passing a Cybersecurity Act in Congress.

You can read the full letter from Senators Blumenthal and Coons to President Obama here.

Surveillance cabling cited in Seattle schools' financial scandal

A report in the Seattle Times says that a previously uncovered alleged financial scandal within Seattle's public-school system may be wider than previously believed, and points to surveillance-cabling projects as examples of the alleged corruption.

Seattle Times education reporter Linda Shaw writes that the scandal "may be $1.3 million more than previously thought," citing state auditors. She also writes, "In one instance, the auditor found, the district paid $14,505 for video surveillance cabling and conduit which auditors estimated was worth $1,054." (See her full report here.)

Shaw reports on other examples of alleged overpayments, including "$127,981 for security equipment at several schools and a district warehouse that auditors said doesn't work or is not fully functional," and "$2,500 for two security cameras at Cleveland High that were not installed at the school."

The installer of the security cabling and/or equipment is among 14 of 26 vendors with whom auditors found problems upon further investigating the original scandalous claims. None of the 14 vendors were named in the auditors' report, but according to Shaw, the problematic dealings with these vendors included "wages paid at much higher than the prevailing rate, lack of detail about what the district was paying for, charges for hours that vendors could not document, and adding what auditors considered excessive markups."

The probe focuses on Silas Potter Jr., a former administrator in the school system. Shaw reports, "It was not immediately clear whether any of the vendors could face criminal charges."

I have a feeling that somewhere in the Seattle area, there's a knot in the pit of some contractor's stomach.