Obama Placed Embargo on Press Over Secret Cyber Security Executive Order

President drilled reporters not to cover secret order

Steve Watson
Prison Planet.com
Feb 13, 2013

Buzz Feed reported today that Obama secretly signed a long awaited executive order on Cyber Security, then issued an embargo to all news organisations NOT to cover the developments.

The report states:

Shortly before 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, the White House emailed reporters that President Obama had signed a highly anticipated Executive Order aimed at protecting cyber security.

The order — setting up new programs aimed at stopping online espionage and terrorism — was already the law of the land, signed by the president. But it was also secret.

The document was “embargoed until delivery of the President’s in the State of the Union address” — despite the fact it had already been signed.

The report states that  there was a “background briefing on the move”, involving members of the press.

Explaining that the embargo was not legally binding , Buzz Feed says it chose to break it and report the story because they “thought it appropriate to report on the unusual delay”.

Buzz Feed also revealed that in an email sent out regarding the development, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor attempted to explain the secrecy behind the executive order.

“We wanted to release the EO early on an embargoed basis because the subject matter is complicated and we knew you guys would have questions. It seemed more helpful for the press corps than sending it concurrent with the speech.” the email said.

Vietor added “this isn’t unprecedented. Take for example sanctions Executive Orders. They are signed one day, go into effect at midnight but are not released until the next day.”

The secrecy over the executive order sets a precedent, given that it is usually only employed where classified information is concerned.

The White House synopsis on the Executive order reads:

According to a White House synopsis the Executive Order includes:

New information sharing programs to provide both classified and unclassified threat and attack information to U.S. companies. The Executive Order requires Federal agencies to produce unclassified reports of threats to U.S. companies and requires the reports to be shared in a timely manner. The Order also expands the Enhanced Cybersecurity Services program, enabling near real time sharing of cyber threat information to assist participating critical infrastructure companies in their cyber protection efforts.

The development of a Cybersecurity Framework. The Executive Order directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to lead the development of a framework of cybersecurity practices to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure. NIST will work collaboratively with industry to develop the framework, relying on existing international standards, practices, and procedures that have proven to be effective. To enable technical innovation, the Cybersecurity Framework will provide guidance that is technology neutral and that enables critical infrastructure sectors to benefit from a competitive market for products and service

Includes strong privacy and civil liberties protections based on the Fair Information Practice Principles. Agencies are required to incorporate privacy and civil liberties safeguards in their activities under this order. Those safeguards will be based upon the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPS) and other applicable privacy and civil liberties policies, principles, and frameworks. Agencies will conduct regular assessments of privacy and civil liberties impacts of their activities and such assessments will be made public.

Establishes a voluntary program to promote the adoption of the Cybersecurity Framework. The Department of Homeland Security will work with Sector-Specific Agencies like the Department of Energy and the Sector Coordinating Councils that represent industry to develop a program to assist companies with implementing the Cybersecurity Framework and to identify incentives for adoption.

Calls for a review of existing cybersecurity regulation. Regulatory agencies will use the Cybersecurity Framework to assess their cybersecurity regulations, determine if existing requirements are sufficient, and whether any existing regulations can be eliminated as no longer effective. If the existing regulations are ineffective or insufficient, agencies will propose new, cost-effective regulations based upon the Cybersecurity Framework and in consultation with their regulated companies. Independent regulatory agencies are encouraged to leverage the Cybersecurity Framework to consider prioritized actions to mitigate cyber risks for critical infrastructure consistent with their authorities.

This article was posted: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 12:29 pm

Tags: domestic news, internet, terrorism

---

---

---

---

Infowars.com Videos:

Comment on this article

Comments are closed.