Lohrmann on Cybersecurity

The latest bills, privacy concerns and information-sharing actions.

I traveled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this past week to present the opening keynote at the Gulf Information Security Expo & Conference (GISEC 2015) in Dubai. The event offered a refreshing mix of leading global voices on security and technology topics. But most surprising, the Gulf region's public and private sector executive leaders who presented, the companies exhibiting and the amazing city as a whole offered attendees a different perspective and a positive model for the current cybersecurity and technology infrastructure challenges in the Middle East and the world as a whole.

Attendance records were probably broken, and there were numerous very good sessions. Still, surprisingly, government announcements may have been the highlight of the week.

We are continuing the series of interviews with leading state government CIOs and CISOs from around the nation. This week, we turn to Washington state and its security priorities and technology plans.

A new report released this week by Trend Micro and the Organization of American States (OAS) shows a dramatic increase in cyberattacks directed against critical infrastructure owners and operators.

Are you having trouble getting the needed resources for your cybersecurity program or key projects in government? Is staffing, funding or gaining executive support not adequate to get the job done right? Do you want to strengthen your influence and trust with management? While there are no easy answers, these ideas may help.

Just as many government organizations wrap up enterprise XP migrations a year after initially planned, it's time to start ramping up another major infrastructure effort. Microsoft Windows 10 will be arriving this summer. What new features are coming and is it time to prepare your strategic upgrade plan?

On Friday, March 20, 2015, CyberOU, the student cybersecurity club at Oakland University, held its second annual Cyber Summit in Michigan. Here's why CyberOU is a student-run organization for others around the world to emulate.

We are continuing a series of educational interviews with state and local government technology and security leaders around the nation. This week we visit an intriguing local government in the Pacific Northwest part of the country to learn more about its overall mission and how it keeps customer data safe.

What cybersecurity priorities, challenges, actions and plans are Missouri's CIO and CISO working on right now?

By a 3-to-2 vote along party lines, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed new rules on Net neutrality last week. The rules establish the Internet as a utility, but court battles loom before the FCC actions can take effect. Here's what happened, a summary of the news coverage, what it all means, reaction from different sources and what is likely to happen next.

'States Leading on Cybersecurity' was the name of session at National Governors Association (NGA) Annual Winter Meeting on Sunday. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson addressed looming DHS shutdown impacts as well as federal / state opportunities to work together to share cyberthreats and other critical information across the public and private sectors.