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White House kicks infosec team to curb in IT office shakeup
An internal White House memo published today by Axios reveals that recent changes to the information operations and security organizations there have left the security team in tumult, with many members headed for the door. And the chief of the White House's computer network defense branch—who wrote the memo after submitting his resignation—warned that the White House was likely headed toward another network compromise and theft of data.
The White House Office of the Chief Information Security Officer was set up after the 2014 breach of an unclassified White House network by Russian intelligence—a breach discovered by a friendly foreign government. But in a July reorganization, the OCISO was dissolved and its duties placed under the White House Office of the Chief Information Officer, led by CIO Ben Pauwels and Director of White House IT Roger L. Stone. Stone was pulled from the ranks of the National Security Council where he was deputy senior director for resilience policy. (Stone is not related to indicted Republican political consultant Roger J. Stone.)
[...] "It is my express opinion that the remaining incumbent OCISO staff is being systematically targeted for removal from the Office of Administration," departing White House network defense branch chief Dimitrios Vastakis wrote in the memo. The security team had seen incentive pay revoked, scope of duties cut, and access to systems and facilities reduced, Vastakis noted. Staffers' "positions with strategic and tactical decision making authorities" had also been revoked. "In addition, habitually being hostile to incumbent OCISO staff has become a staple tactic for the new leadership... it has forced the majority of [senior civil servant] OCISO staff to resign."
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 25 2019, @07:54AM (7 children)
In Trump's defence, the security/intelligence community did organise that whole hysteria/putsch against him. Like, how much can he trust his IT guys?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday October 25 2019, @07:59AM (2 children)
Hmmmmm - let's bear in mind that IT staff is at best peripheral to "intelligence". Sure, all the staff at the White House have to have clearances to access anything, so, you might stretch the "intelligence" umbrella over them. But, it remains a stretch.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 25 2019, @08:10AM (1 child)
Untrue. Jared, no clearance. Ivanka, no clearance. Kellyanne, no intelligence. Steve Miller, no soul.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Friday October 25 2019, @08:40AM
https://www.stevemillerband.com/ [stevemillerband.com]
You're right on one count, anyway.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 25 2019, @08:03AM
Or, with a stable genius like Trump in charge, you don't really need all those "apprentices", you can just fire them and the "Trump Organization" will go on just fine, with the best cyber being done by the President hisself on Twitter! Or Bannon will handle it. He's really something when it comes to the cyber. It's not like a truck, you know, not even a cement truck; it's more like a serious of tubes, with very important people on both ends.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 25 2019, @01:34PM
In Trump's condemnation, he did seek political dirt on his chief rival through conduct unbecoming the office of the President (and certainly regardable as illegal), then tried to store the evidence on a system reserved for national (and not political) security matters, and the security/intelligence community did their duty to the Constitution by reporting it to proper authority. Which gave Trump no choice but to try a Hail Mary strategy of outrightly recommitting the same crime in public view to try and get away with it. Like, how much longer do we have to put up with this idiot in office?
Now waiting for the White House to get hacked again....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 25 2019, @03:47PM
How dumb are you chuckle fuckers?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 25 2019, @04:13PM
"Enemy Within." Interesting choice of words. I gather that you think of the IT guys as the "enemy within". I have my own take on who the real enemy is.
First, "security/intelligence community" != "IT guys". Second, they didn't organise[sic] a putsch against Trump; they informed him that he was potentially compromised. Or at least compromisable. It is their job to inform him of things like that.
These are the IT guys; they were put in place because the previous administration was informed by a friendly foreign government that Russian intelligence had breached the system. They are not senior advisers. Or do you actually think that having the White House hacked by the Russians is a good thing? But I suppose the most important question of all is, how much can we really trust the President and his team?