Dan Verton

Senate Cybersecurity Bill Could Revive Kill Switch, Crush Innovation

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COMMENTARY – Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are hell bent on implementing the recommendations of President Barack Obama’s Cyberspace Policy Review, in which the administration argued for a greater role for the Department of Homeland Security in securing the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyber attack.

And to prove how serious and misguided they are, some of these lawmakers like Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) are about to introduce legislation that arguably will hurt innovation and jobs, and which may actually grant the DHS extraordinary regulatory powers that extend to the Internet. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 9, 2012 at 10:35 AM

Best Of 2011: Is It Time For the Feds to Rein In the NYPD?

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This is one in a series of articles highlighting Breaking Gov’s best stories of the past year. As we reflected on our 2011 coverage of innovation, technology and management amongst the federal agencies and workforce, this was among the stories that stood out as delivering key insight into the top issues facing today’s government community.

When it comes to proactive law enforcement, intelligence and counterterrorism operations, the New York City Police Department is viewed by many of its counterparts as among the most innovative and successful police departments in the nation’s history. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 30, 2011 at 12:00 PM

Best Of 2011: Ten Years After 9/11 – Three Perspectives On Homeland Security’s Mission

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This is one in a series of articles highlighting Breaking Gov’s best stories of the past year. As we reflected on our 2011 coverage of innovation, technology and management amongst the federal agencies and workforce, this was among the stories that stood out as delivering key insight into the top issues facing today’s government community.

While many publications paid tribute to 9/11 this year, none explored the resulting creation of the Department of Homeland Security — and the largest U.S. government reorganization in half a century — better than Dan Verton. Dan succeeded in tracking down and interviewing three men who were instrumental in the birth and evolution of DHS: the nation’s first Secretary of Homeland Security; the deputy for counterterrorism on the National Security Council, and the CIA’s deputy director of intelligence. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 29, 2011 at 12:00 PM

Ten Years After 9/11: Three Eyewitness Perspectives On DHS’s Creation

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About This Program:
In this mini-documentary exclusive for Breaking Gov, award-winning journalist Dan Verton brings us back to the day that changed the world and traces the evolution of the homeland security mission through the eyes of three men who were present at its creation.

This is the story of the birth and evolution of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as told by the nation’s first secretary of Homeland Security, the deputy for counterterrorism on the National Security Council, and the CIA’s deputy director of intelligence, who would go on to become the first Staff Director for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 7, 2011 at 12:01 PM

DHS Unveils New Strategies For IT Risk Management

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As the number and sophistication of cyber attacks targeting government agencies and large private enterprise continue to increase, the Department of Homeland Security has released new risk management strategies for the nation’s critical IT infrastructure.

The strategies were released last month in an effort to raise awareness and help public and private enterprises better understand and respond to emerging threats and vulnerabilities. Specifically, they pertain to products and services, incident management and Internet routing and were developed in cooperation with the private sector-led Information Technology Sector Coordinating Council. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 10, 2011 at 2:00 PM

DHS Pushes Partnerships, But Management Concerns Linger

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Since the failed response to hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Department of Homeland Security has been fighting a pitched battle to restore the American people’s faith and confidence that it can prepare for, manage and respond to disasters and terrorist attacks like an integrated, effective, well-managed enterprise.

The department’s latest effort came on Aug. 3 when it brought out Secretary Janet Napolitano, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Craig Fugate, and former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge for a round of keynote speeches promoting public-private partnerships at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 9, 2011 at 2:00 PM