DHS Chief Defends $6 Billion Federal Firewall after Stinging Audit

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson discusses the updates to the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS), Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Response Coordination Center in Washington.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson discusses the updates to the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS), Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Response Coordination Center in Washington. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

"The EINSTEIN system is not a silver bullet," said Jeh Johnson. "It does not stop all attacks, nor is it intended to do so. It is part of a broader array of defenses."

Updated 4:50 p.m. to include a statement from Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. 

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Jan. 31 defended the past accomplishments and future potential of a counterhack tool that was criticized in a recent congressional audit.

The $6 billion firewall, dubbed EINSTEIN, was created in 2003 to detect and thwart nation-state intruders who target federal computer systems. But a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday to the public revealed the scanning technology is not meeting its stated goals.

The detection piece of the system ignores common security vulnerabilities and cannot see into Web traffic, auditors found. Only 5 of the 23 major nondefense agencies possess the capability to block assailants.

In a statement, Johnson said while the prevention function might not be activated across the board, agencies equipped with the service represent 50 percent of the government workforce.

That blocking-feature, known as EINSTEIN 3A, ingests intelligence from the National Security Agency and other sources about patterns of attacks, called signatures, to learn what type of network activity to look for.

"Unlike commercial products, EINSTEIN 3A can rely upon classified information, so the government is protected against our most sophisticated adversaries," Johnson said.

The statement is somewhat at odds with the GAO’s observation that the tool does not carry signatures "that fully addressed all the advanced persistent threats” reviewed. That's a reference to the typical modus operandi of foreign hackers, in which they gain a foothold in part of a target’s system and linger invisibly for months at a time until achieving their mission.

A suspected Chinese spy team purportedly bypassed EINSTEIN and then retrieved background check records on 19.7 million individuals applying for national security jobs. The weapons of choice, "zero day" exploits, take advantage of software holes no one knows about, including NSA.

Johnson on Saturday recognized the limitations of EINSTEIN, adding that some are deliberate while others are being addressed today.

"The EINSTEIN system is not a silver bullet," he said. "It does not stop all attacks, nor is it intended to do so. It is part of a broader array of defenses."

The statement added: "As GAO notes correctly, the current version of EINSTEIN only blocks cyberthreats we know about. But EINSTEIN also provides a platform for new technologies to protect the government. I have therefore directed our team to research and build capabilities that will allow us to detect never-before seen attacks, leveraging the best of government and private sector technology and expertise."

DHS-approved Internet service providers equip networks with EINSTEIN 3A protections and some agencies do not currently subscribe to those ISPs. Last summer, Johnson vowed to make the tech available to all departments by the end of 2015 and did so, by contracting with CenturyLink to protect those agencies that cannot obtain EINSTEIN 3A through their existing providers.

"DHS will continue to ensure that every department and agency is in fact protected by the program in the near future," Johnson said Saturday. "I have communicated directly to Cabinet members to ensure that we collectively prioritize this." 

Congress, in a December 2015 spending package, mandated all departments use the feature by the end of 2016. A year ago only about 20 percent of the government was insulated by EINSTEIN 3A, Johnson said.

On Monday, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., who co-sponsored the EINSTEIN mandate said his legislation could add some teeth to Johnson's plans.

"It ensures that EINSTEIN covers the entire civilian federal government’s networks and requires that the Department of Homeland Security use the latest available technologies available," he said in a statement. "Furthermore, it requires new transparency and accountability reports from the department and other agencies to make sure agencies stay on track."

That said, the White House must make installation across the federal government a top priority, Carper said.

On Jan. 13, Andy Ozment, DHS assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications, said the prevention mechanism will be phased in across the government over the next 12 months. 

"Frankly, we hadn't intended for every agency to get deployed all on the same day, so we are going to have to stagger them throughout the year," he said at a Congressional Smart Contracting Caucus briefing on cybersecurity. "But we have seen an incredible change in our ability to work with agencies in the four weeks since that bill was passed. 

EINSTEIN 3A has blocked more than 700,000 cyberthreats so far, Johnson said.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.