Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

The federal government sector has been abuzz lately with whispers and shouts about pending cybersecurity regulations, frameworks, and requirements. This attention is not particularly surprising, especially given the recent high-profile data breaches, the litigation threats surrounding those breaches, the recent identification of the encryption-disabling, consumer data threatening “Heartbleed SSL” OpenSSL vulnerability, and recent reports that the September 2013 cyber-incursion into the U.S. Navy’s Intranet network could have been prevented with the proper security contracting mechanism.  Notably, however, while these stories – and the resultant damages that these stories’ topics leave in their wake – remain in the headlines, Congress has yet to act (and according to Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN), will likely not be acting anytime soon). By contrast, the Executive branch, and especially the FTC, is in a full-on sprint and tackling cybersecurity wherever it can be found.
Continue Reading The Cybersecurity Race: Executive Branch Takes The Lead While Congress Watches From The Bleachers