The House reconvened at Noon today. Then recessed until 2 PM today.
The House may consider the following today:
H.R. 805 — "To prohibit the National Telecommunications and Information Administration from relinquishing responsibility over the Internet domain name system until the Comptroller General of the United States submits to Congress a report on the role of the NTIA with respect to such system."
H.R. 2576 — "To modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act, and for other purposes."
The Senate reconvened at 10 PM today and resumed consideration of H.R. 2146, the vehicle for Trade Promotion Authority. At 11:30, the Senate voted 60-37 to invoke cloture (end debate and move towards a final vote) on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2146.
At 12:30 PM, the Senate recessed until 2:15 PM for weekly policy lunches.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 81-1 to confirm Peter Neffenger to be an Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security.
Last night, CNN reported, "The personal data of an estimated 18 million current, former and prospective federal employees were affected by a cyber breach at the Office of Personnel Management - more than four times the 4.2 million the agency has publicly acknowledged. The number is expected to grow, according to U.S. officials briefed on the investigation.
"FBI Director James Comey gave the 18 million estimate in a closed-door briefing to Senators in recent weeks, using the OPM's own internal data, according to U.S. officials briefed on the matter. Those affected could include people who applied for government jobs, but never actually ended up working for the government."
The details are just as bad. According to CNN, "The same hackers who accessed OPM's data are believed to have last year breached an OPM contractor, KeyPoint Government Solutions, U.S. officials said. When the OPM breach was discovered in April, investigators found that KeyPoint security credentials were used to breach the OPM system.
"Some investigators believe that after that intrusion last year, OPM officials should have blocked all access from KeyPoint, and that doing so could have prevented more serious damage. But a person briefed on the investigation says OPM officials don't believe such a move would have made a difference. That's because the OPM breach is believed to have pre-dated the KeyPoint breach. Hackers are also believed to have built their own backdoor access to the OPM system, armed with high-level system administrator access to the system. One official called it the 'keys to the kingdom.' . . .
"OPM has so far stuck by the 4.2 million estimate, which is the number of people so far notified that their information was compromised. An agency spokesman said the investigation is ongoing and that it hasn't verified the larger number. The actual number of people affected is expected to grow, in part because hackers accessed a database storing government forms used for security clearances, known as SF86 questionnaires, which contain the private information of multiple family members and associates for each government official affected, these officials said."
CNN notes, "OPM officials are facing multiple congressional hearings this week on the hack and their response to it. There's growing frustration among lawmakers and government employees that the Obama administration's response has minimized the severity of breach."
One of those is the Senate Homeland Security and; Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), as Reuters points out: "The head of a U.S. agency that fell victim to cyber attacks, in a data breach affecting 4 million current and former federal workers, is poised to face U.S. lawmakers again this week.
"Katherine Archuleta, director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), is scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate's homeland security panel, the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee said in a statement on Monday.
"Archuleta defended the agency last week before a U.S. House of Representatives panel, saying that while the agency has thwarted millions of hackers each month, the problems exposed in a recent breach, announced earlier in the month, were decades in the making.
"Some lawmakers have called for top OPM officials to resign in the wake of the breach, although the White House last week said President Barack Obama still had confidence in Archuleta. . . .
"Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, called the breach outrageous and said the Obama administration must do more to protect data. 'Any governmental official who is responsible for failing to do so must be held accountable,' he said in a statement."
CNN noted some important issues that arose last week in a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "OPM's internal auditors told a House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee last week that key databases housing sensitive national security data, including applications for background checks, had not met federal security standards.
"'Not only was a large volume (11 out of 47 systems) of OPM's IT systems operating without a valid Authorization, but several of these systems are among the most critical and sensitive applications owned by the agency,' Michael Esser, OPM's assistant inspector general for audits, wrote in testimony prepared for committee.
"Katherine Archuleta, who leads OPM, is beginning to face heat for her agency's failure to protect key national security data -- highly prized by foreign intelligence agencies -- as well as for how slowly the agency has provided information."
Note: the United States is still without a very useful piece of cybersecurity legislation because Senate Democrats filibustered it earlier this month.
Tags: ICyber Security, US. Employee Records, Hacked, Senate, TPA Bill To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
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