DHS Chief Promises to Expand Social Media Screening, Plans 'Aggressive' Rollout of Cyber Protections

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson Carlos Osorio/AP

Johnson talked social media, biometrics and cybersecurity at his annual State of Homeland Security address.

The Department of Homeland Security plans to augment its biometric data collection and social media screening to prevent terrorists from entering the country, Jeh Johnson said during his annual “State of Homeland Security” address.

“Based upon the recent recommendation of a social media task force within DHS, I have determined that we must expand the use of social media even further, consistent with law,” Johnson said Thursday. DHS currently uses social media for 33 separate operational and investigational purposes, including reviews of the social media accounts of Syrian refugee applicants who have been “referred for enhanced vetting,” he explained. 

Johnson has also directed Customs and Border Protection to deploy “biometric exit” systems -- which would collect data points such as fingerprints from people leaving the country -- at airports by 2018. CBP is already testing those systems, he said.

Delivering the final "State of Homeland Security" address of his term, Johnson reinforced his commitment to using new technology to protect citizens from both physical and virtual attack -- a theme he and President Barack Obama have established in the past several months. 

Just days before Johnson’s address, the White House published an elaborate Cybersecurity National Action Plan, which aims to establish a nongovernment advisory “Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity,” among other steps to boost citizen privacy and security. 

On Thursday, Johnson noted that “counterterrorism remains a cornerstone of our department’s mission,” but that “cybersecurity must be another,” and outlined DHS’ goals for next year, including providing the second phase of its cyber-risk identifying Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation system to 100 percent of the federal civilian government.

Obama’s budget request for the 2017 fiscal year outlined DHS’ plans to grow the number of cybersecurity response teams from 10 to 48, Johnson said, and to double the number of its cybersecurity advisers to make “house calls” and “in-person customized cybersecurity assessments" to organizations in the private sector.

DHS also plans to collaborate with Underwriters Laboratories to create a cybersecurity assurance program, designed to test and certify networks and devices within the Internet of Things (a term for a connected network of sensors and devices), “such as your home alarm system, your refrigerator or even your pacemaker," Johnson said.

The department has an “aggressive timetable” for improving cybersecurity at federal civilian agencies, Johnson said. DHS is “rapidly expanding” the capability of Einstein 3A, the newest version of its threat-detection and -blocking technology. Einstein 3A has so far blocked 700,000 cyberthreats, he said. 

In the wake of a large-scale intrusion into federal personnel files at the Office of Personnel Management affecting about 22 million people last year, Johnson said he directed his cyber team to make aspects of the system available to all federal civilian agencies. About 50 percent are online now, including OPM.

"We are working to get all federal departments and agencies by the end of this year," he added. 

But Johnson remained mum when asked during a question-and-answer period whether DHS had evidence suggesting that stolen data was used to access government systems, with the intent of manipulating or destroying the data.

“I’m not sure I can comment publicly," he said. "We are always extremely vigilant ... looking for such a thing.”

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.