Anonymous forces Cyber Tsar to resign
If your position at Homeland Security requires you to keep cyber attacks at a minimum, you might not have been doing your job justice as of late.
It?s no surprise then that Randy Vickers, director of the US computer emergency readiness team (CERT), resigned on Friday.
Vickers unexpected stepping-down comes after a slew of cyber crimes targeted some of the biggest - and presumably impenetrable - computer networks of the US government. In only the last few months, hacktivists collectives Anonymous and LulzSec have taken credit for attacking the websites for the CIA, Senate and FBI, among others.
The resignation was announced on Friday by way of a brief email, which noted that Vickers would forfeit his title immediately. In the interim, US-CERT Deputy Director Lee Rock will be stepping in while a replacement is sought out.
"Lee has been the Deputy Director for US-CERT for over a year and we are confident that our organization will continue its strong performance under his leadership," assistant secretary Roberta Stempfley writes. "We wish Randy success in his future endeavors."
Vickers had been overseeing all aspects of CERT as director, a position he has held since 2009.
The DC-based CERT office says that the team tries to tackle the cybersecurity of the nation and coordinates cyber information sharing and proactively manage cyber risks to the nation, all the while protecting the constitutional rights of Americans.
In the wake of the hack attacks, several persons affiliated with Anonymous and Lulzsec, worldwide, have been arrested in recent weeks. The US government has reportedly been working with other international agencies to team up in an effort to thwart global cybercrime.
Earlier this month, hactivists trying to further the "AntiSec" movement released around 90,000 usernames, passwords and other private data relating to military personnel that they claim was lifted from consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
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