Latest Russian Cyber Attack on White House a Boon for CISA

The Russians have come…again—in the form of hackers. Not long ago Russian cyber criminals busted into the U.S.’s State Department system and mangled it for months.

This time, they got into a computer system at the White House. Luckily, this system did not hold any classified information, but nevertheless, the hackers got ahold of President Obama’s private itinerary. So it just goes to show you just what hackers a world away can do.

This isn’t the first time that the White House has been hacked into. Remember the attacks that were allegedly committed by the Chinese? These, too, did not involve sensitive information, but the scary thing is that these cyber invasions show how easy it is for other countries to bang into the computer systems of the No. 1. Superpower.

So President Obama’s personal schedule got hacked, and in the past, some White House employee e-mails got hacked. What next—top secret plans involving weaponry?

What the Russians may do next is of grave concern to the FBI. Perhaps the Russians are just teasing us with this latest break-in, and the next hacking incident will really rattle things.

Ironically, Obama had recently signed an executive order in the name of stomping down on cyber crime. Well, someone didn’t stomp hard enough, and the Russians, Chinese and everyone else knows it.

Obama’s efforts involve CISA: Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. The Act would mandate that there’d be greater communication between the government, businesses and the private sector relating to possible cyber threats.

CISA is not well-received by everyone because it involves what some believe to be a compromise in privacy. This latest attack on the White House, say CISA critics, might encourage lawmakers to hastily pass the Act without first building into it some features that would protect the privacy of the private sector.

The chief concern, or at least one of the leading ones, of CISA opponents or skeptics is that of the government gaining access to Joe’s or Jane’s personal information. And why would the government want to get our private information? For surveillance purposes—that harken back to the efforts to increase cyber protection and prevent more hacking episodes.

The bottom line is that this latest attack by the Russians will surely add a few more logs to the fire in that lawmakers will feel more pressure than ever to strongly consider passing CISA.