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  2. October 2015

October 2015

Clinton’s ‘Please Hack Me’ Server

[Commentary] There’s good reason to assume that foreign intelligence agencies were able to read Hillary Clinton's e-mails. Government servers are not hackproof, but they offer basic defenses and alerts. An Associated Press investigation found that the Clinton setup didn’t use a virtual private network, a common corporate safeguard. This meant her e-mail server could be accessed over an open Internet connection. The AP reported attempted hacks on Clinton servers from China and Russia. It identified a hacker using a computer in Serbia who scanned the server in the basement of her Chappaqua (NY) home multiple times in 2012. This was at a time when Homeland Security had issued a general warning against the software Clinton was using because even “an attacker with a low skill-level would be able to exploit this vulnerability.”

The same year, the State Department banned any remote connections to servers with classified information. Cyberwar against the US began before the Obama Administration, but it has grown in intensity -- including the Chinese hack of the personnel records of more than 20 million federal employees. President Barack Obama’s successor will have to decide how best to defend the country from cyberattacks, surveillance and crimes. It shouldn’t be too much to ask that the next president be someone who appreciates the risks and hasn’t contributed to them.

The inside story of Trump campaign’s connections to a big-money super PAC

As he brags that he is turning down millions of dollars for his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has leveled a steady line of attack against his rivals: that they are too cozy with big-money super PACs and may be breaking the law by coordinating with them. “You know the nice part about me?” he told reporters in Iowa in August. “I don’t need anybody’s money.” What Trump doesn’t say is that he and his top campaign aide have connections to a super PAC collecting large checks to support his candidacy -- a group viewed by people familiar with his campaign as the sanctioned outlet for wealthy donors.

During the summer of 2015, Trump appeared at at least two events for the Make America Great Again PAC, which took his campaign slogan as its name and received financing from his daughter’s mother-in-law. A consultant for the super PAC is a Republican operative who has previously worked with Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, according to several people with direct knowledge of their ties. The Trump campaign’s links to the low-profile group could undercut the candidate’s posture as the only Republican in the race who has not sought to curry favor with wealthy donors, a central part of his anti-establishment message.

Obama Administration wants to change how government buys computers

The Obama Administration is clamping down on the way agencies buy laptop and desktop computers. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) barred agencies from soliciting new computer contracts. Civilian agencies will now be required to buy computers through one of three bulk contracts. The plan is aimed at driving down costs. By 2018, three-quarters of all laptop and desktop spending is supposed to come through a few pre-approved contracts.

“There is no need for thousands of contracts to purchase common laptops and desktops,” said Chief Information Officer Tony Scott and Chief Acquisition Officer Anne Rung. Agencies spent about $1.1 billion on laptops and desktop computers in 2014. That came from more than 10,000 contracts, according to OMB. The plan will also cut down on the number of laptop and desktop options for most agency employees. Agencies will also be encouraged to buy new hardware during semiannual bulk government purchases.

A Broadcaster's Guide To Washington Issues

As we enter the last quarter of 2015, all eyes have turned to the Federal Communications Commission’s incentive auction. Broadcasters will need to make significant decisions about whether to participate, whether to channel share, and they will need to measure the potential consequences of doing neither, all while keeping track of a number of important proceedings affecting retransmission consent and other major issues for broadcasters. Keep up to date with FCC Watch, an exclusive briefing on some of the major issues at the agency prepared by David Oxenford and David O'Connor, attorneys in the Washington law offices of Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP.

Five Myths About Safe Harbor

[Commentary] I have been thinking a lot recently about the days at the US Department of Commerce back in the late 1990s when we negotiated the US-European Union Safe Harbor Privacy Arrangement (Safe Harbor) with the European Commission. I never thought at the time that Safe Harbor would ever be in the spotlight as much as it is today. But, I also don’t think that any of us could have anticipated how much the world would change in the 15 years since Safe Harbor was negotiated: 9/11, the Snowden revelations and the explosion of the Internet are just a few of the things that have shaped our world along the way. I thought now would be a good time to set the record straight on five myths about Safe Harbor.

Myth #1: The Safe Harbor Arrangement is terminated as a result of the Schrems judgment.
Myth #2: The Safe Harbor is intended to address government surveillance issues.
Myth #3: The Safe Harbor is poorly enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.
Myth #4: The Safe Harbor Arrangement failed to stand the test of time.
Myth #5: The Safe Harbor Arrangement is no longer needed.

Safe Harbor succeeded in bridging the gap between Europe and the US on data flows at a critical time in the growth of the global digital economy. But in life, all things change, and Safe Harbor was due for an upgrade, as is the Directive itself.

[Brian Hengesbaugh is Chair of the Firm's Global IT/C Data Security Steering Committee, and a Member of the Firm's Global Privacy Steering Committee]

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