Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Bioreports
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • POLITICS
  • SPORTS
  • HEALTH
  • BUSINESS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • Fashion
    • Fitness
    • Food
    • Travel
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
Bioreports
Home Virtual Reality

Cybersecurity expert Alex Stamos on what scares him most about the upcoming U.S. presidential election

admin2 admin2 by admin2 admin2
November 15, 2019
in Virtual Reality
0
Cybersecurity expert Alex Stamos on what scares him most about the upcoming U.S. presidential election
0
SHARES
2
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Alex Stamos rose to fame as the former chief security officer for bioreports and then Facebook. But today he’s the director of Stanford’s Internet Observatory, where he’s immersed in teaching and research safe tech — and understands better than most the threats that the U.S. is facing, particularly as we sail toward the next U.S. presidential election.
Last night, at a StrictlyVC event in San Francisco, he talked with bioreports cybersecurity correspondent Sheera Frenkel about a small number of these massively impactful issues, first by revisiting what happened during the 2016 president election, then catching up the audience on whether the country’s defenses have evolved since. (The short version: they haven’t. If there’s any good news at all, it’s that the federal and state governments are at least aware now there’s an issue, whereas they appeared largely blindsided by it the last time around.)
What worries Stamos most are “direct attacks on our election infrastructure” because there’s been so little to bolster it. In fact, a big theme of the interview was the growing inability of the public sector to protect or Americans its democracy against actors who would do the country harm.
As it relates to election infrastructure specifically, Stamos used a hyperlocal example to underscore what the U.S. is dealing with right now. As he told Frenkel, “I live in San Mateo County. I’ve met the CIO of San Mateo County. Really nice guy. I’m sure he has a staff of very hard-working people. The idea that the CIO of San Mateo County has to stand up and protect himself against the [Russian military intelligence agency known as the] GRU or China’s Ministry of State Security or Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or the Lazarus Group of North Korea . . . that’s frickin’ ridiculous. Like, we don’t ask the San Mateo County Sherriff’s department to get ready to repel an invasion by the People’s Liberation Army, but we ask for the cyber equivalent in the United States.
“So I’m most worried,” he continued. “If America’s adversaries want to screw with us, the direct attacks into elections combined with a disinformation attack could be very effective in driving a huge amount of argument and screwing the election to the point where a huge chunk of the country will believe that it was stolen.”

In fact, in nearly every conceivable way, “responsibilities that were once clearly public sector responsibilities are now private sector responsibilities,” he told Frenkel during a later part of their discussion.
He would know, having seen it first-hand.
“When I was the chief security officer at Facebook,” he told the audience, “I had a child safety team. We probably put more bad guys away than almost any law enforcement agency outside of the FBI or [Homeland Security Investigations unit] in the child safety realm. Like, there’s no local police department in the United States that put away more child predators than the Facebook child safety team. That is a crazy stat.
Facebook also has a counter terrorism team — which not everyone realizes — and has become in many ways the country’s first responder, he suggested. Indeed, Stamos said that “there are several terrorist attacks that you’ve never heard of because they didn’t happen because we caught them. Now, there’s some local law enforcement agency took credit for it, but it was actually our team that found it and turned it over to them with a bow on it.”
Americans might shrug off this continuing shift in who is tackling what, but they do it at their peril, suggested Stamos — who managed to keep the crowd laughing, even as he painted a bleak picture. As he noted, the big tech “companies are exercising this power without any kind of democratic oversight.” Consider, he said, that “[Facebook’s] authorization is the terms of service that people click through and never read when they join Facebook or Instagram. That’s a bizarre set of rules to be bound by when you have such incredible power.”
Another huge blind spot, said Stamos, is the apparently inability — as well as the collective lack of determination required — of the public and the increasingly powerful private sector to coordinate their work.  Here, he offered another broad example to make it accessible. “Say you had an organized group in the United States that’s running a bunch of Facebook ads, but their money is coming from bitcoin from St. Petersburg,” said Stamos. “That is completely invisible to Facebook. That is perhaps visible to FBI . . .but they don’t have access to that actual content [on FB]. And figuring out a way for these two groups to work with each other without massively violating the privacy of everybody on the platform turns out to be super hard.”
Yet it’s worse than even that sounds, he continued. The reason: there’s no decision-tree in part because the issue has grown so unmanageable that no one wants to own what goes awry. “There’s effectively nobody in charge of this right now, which is one of the scariest things we’re facing as a country. Almost nobody is in defense of cyber, and certainly nobody is in charge of the big picture, [meaning] how do we defend against election [interference] both from a cybersecurity perspective and a disinformation perspective.”
Stamos even referred to “pockets of people in the U.S. government who are effectively hiding from the White House and trying very, very hard” to escape its attention. He referred to “one of the last semi-confirmed people in the Department of Homeland Security” who was “hiding in Los Angeles” when Stamos happened to reach him by text. Stamos said this person jokingly wrote back that he hoped it wasn’t the White House that had discovered his whereabouts.
Of course, all kidding aside, with no one at the helm and “no real cross-agency process, there’s really nobody in charge,” said Stamos.
That means the “tech companies are effectively the coordinating body for this. And that’s actually really screwed up.”

Related posts

the-mandalorian-season-2-episode-7-recap:-mando-goes-undercover-–-bioreports

The Mandalorian season 2 episode 7 recap: Mando goes undercover – Bioreports

December 13, 2020
virgin-galactic-aborts-first-powered-flight-attempt-from-spaceport-america-–-bioreports

Virgin Galactic aborts first powered-flight attempt from Spaceport America – Bioreports

December 13, 2020
Previous Post

Freddie Prinze Jr. says Tom Hanks was supposed to play Sandy on Friends

Next Post

NASA: oxygen is being created and used on Mars and they don’t know why – TweakTown

Next Post
NASA: oxygen is being created and used on Mars and they don’t know why – TweakTown

NASA: oxygen is being created and used on Mars and they don't know why - TweakTown

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Bioreports Editorials

delta-police-nabs-three-suspects,-pdp-chief-over-communal-clash
Editorials

Delta police nabs three suspects, PDP chief over communal clash

by Bioreports
December 13, 2020
0

By Elo Edremoda, Warri and Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba Three persons, including a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ward chairman have been...

Read more
npc-kicks-off census-enumeration-exercise-in-katsina

NPC kicks off census enumeration exercise in Katsina

December 13, 2020
katsina-compiles-register-of-cbos,-csos-and-ngos

Katsina compiles register of CBOs, CSOs and NGOS

December 13, 2020
gunmen-kill-four,-injure-seven-in-benue

Gunmen kill four, injure seven in Benue

December 13, 2020
police-burnt-house,-abducted-two-friends-in-abia,-victim-tells-panel

Police burnt house, abducted two friends in Abia, victim tells panel

December 13, 2020

About Us

Hot news about happenings in NIGERIA generally with special focus on political developments and News around the world

Technology News

the-mandalorian-season-2-episode-7-recap:-mando-goes-undercover-–-bioreports
Virtual Reality

The Mandalorian season 2 episode 7 recap: Mando goes undercover – Bioreports

by Bioreports
December 13, 2020
0

Mando and Boba Fett (who's cleaned up his armor) make an excellent team, even if they aren't together much in...

Read more
virgin-galactic-aborts-first-powered-flight-attempt-from-spaceport-america-–-bioreports

Virgin Galactic aborts first powered-flight attempt from Spaceport America – Bioreports

December 13, 2020
9-great-reads-from-bioreports-this-week-–-bioreports

9 great reads from Bioreports this week – Bioreports

December 13, 2020
homepod-mini-vs-echo-dot-vs.-nest-mini:-picking-the-best-mini-smart-speaker-–-bioreports

HomePod Mini vs. Echo Dot vs. Nest Mini: Picking the best mini smart speaker – Bioreports

December 13, 2020
solar-eclipse-2020:-a-history-of-eclipses-and-bizarre-responses-to-them-–-bioreports

Solar eclipse 2020: A history of eclipses and bizarre responses to them – Bioreports

December 13, 2020

Business News

affirm-delays-its-ipo
Featured

Affirm Delays Its IPO

by Bioreports
December 13, 2020
0

Affirm Holdings Inc. is postponing its initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, the second company in...

Read more
pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccines-are-prepped-for-shipment

Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccines Are Prepped for Shipment

December 13, 2020
nfl-ratings-drop-leaves-networks-scrambling-to-make-advertisers-whole

NFL Ratings Drop Leaves Networks Scrambling to Make Advertisers Whole

December 13, 2020
astrazeneca-agrees-to-buy-alexion-for-$39-billion

AstraZeneca Agrees to Buy Alexion for $39 Billion

December 13, 2020
the-best-managed-companies-of-2020—and-how-they-got-that-way

The Best-Managed Companies of 2020—and How They Got That Way

December 13, 2020

Hearsay

see-how-36-states-in-nigeria-got-their-names,-some-were-named-after-rivers-(full-list)
hearsay

See how 36 states in Nigeria got their names, some were named after rivers (full list)

by Bioreports
January 18, 2021
0

Many Nigerians can mention the 36 states of the federation offhand in alphabetical order but just a few of them...

Read more
man-impresses-with-food-cooked-with-vegetables-from-his-garden-(photos)

Man impresses with food cooked with vegetables from his garden (photos)

January 18, 2021
adorable-photos-of-a-boy-looking-cute-with-his-birthmarks-go-viral

Adorable photos of a boy looking cute with his birthmarks go viral

January 18, 2021
see-how-this-little-girl-tried-to-beat-her-mother-in-dance-‘competition’-(video)

See how this little girl tried to beat her mother in dance ‘competition’ (video)

January 18, 2021
us-president-trump-reportedly-set-to-raise-n792bn-for-presidential-library

US President Trump Reportedly Set To Raise N792bn for Presidential Library

January 18, 2021

© 2020 Bioreports - Hot news about happenings in NIGERIA generally with special focus on political developments and News around the world.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • POLITICS
  • SPORTS
  • HEALTH
  • BUSINESS
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • Fashion
    • Fitness
    • Food
    • Travel

© 2020 Bioreports - Hot news about happenings in NIGERIA generally with special focus on political developments and News around the world.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In