Is the alternative to ignore Russia (et al) as they hack elections, rob banks and shut down infrastructure, limiting our response to a “stern warning” and sanctions of a few well insulated people who will never be extradited.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2018/10/the_us_national.html

The US National Cyber Strategy

Last month the White House released the "National Cyber Strategy of the United States of America. I generally don't have much to say about these sorts of documents. They're filled with broad generalities.

… In a New York Times op ed, Josephine Wolff argues that this new strategy, together with the more-detailed Department of Defense cyber strategy and the classified National Security Presidential Memorandum 13, represent a dangerous shift of US cybersecurity posture from defensive to offensive:

… Wolff is right; this is reckless. In Click Here to Kill Everybody, I argue for a "defense dominant" strategy: that while offense is essential for defense, when the two are in conflict it should take a back seat to defense. It's more complicated than that, of course, and I devote a whole chapter to its implications. But as computers and the Internet become more critical to our lives and society, keeping it secure becomes more important than using it to attack others.

Perspective. Something not quite right here.

https://thenextweb.com/google/2018/10/09/google-pulls-plug-on-10-billion-pentagon-cloud-deal/

Google pulls plug on $10 billion Pentagon cloud deal

Google will ditch its bid for a cloud computing deal worth $10 billion with the Pentagon, as its new ethical guidelines don’t align with the requirements from the US Department of Defense (DoD).

The company said in a statement:

We couldn’t be assured that [the JEDI deal] would align with our AI Principles and second, we determined that there were portions of the contract that were out of scope with our current government certifications.

Perspective. The flip side of having a global audience hanging on your every tweet is knowing when to keep your tweeter shut!

http://fortune.com/2018/10/09/tesla-valuation-elon-musk-sec-tweets/

Tesla Stock Boomed After the SEC Deal. Then Elon Musk Tweeted. Now the Company Is Worth $10 Billion Less

Tesla Inc. just can’t seem to catch a break.

If the rout sparked by an SEC investigation into CEO Elon Musk’s tweets on taking the carmaker private wasn’t enough, a subsequent tweet storm mocking the agency and an unflattering comparison to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. slewed off even more value. Shares extended losses for a fifth straight session Monday, falling 4.3% to the lowest in more than 18 months.