Look who Obama's hired for cybersecurity team

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=323373

WND.com
July 18, 2011

An elite team of computer technicians assembled by the Obama 
administration to protect Pentagon networks from cyberattack shockingly 
includes a former Clinton official who "lost" thousands of archived 
emails under subpoena and who more recently left the Department of 
Homeland Security under an ethical cloud related to her qualifications, 
WND has learned.

The administration in May quietly hired Laura Callahan for a sensitive 
post at the U.S. Cyber Command, a newly created agency set up to harden 
military networks as part of an effort to prevent a "cyberspace version 
of Pearl Harbor."

The move raises doubts about the administration's vetting process for 
sensitive security positions. In 2004, Callahan was forced to resign 
from Homeland Security after a congressional investigation revealed she 
committed résumé fraud and lied about her computer credentials.

Investigators found that Callahan paid a diploma mill thousands of 
dollars for her bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees in computer 
science. She back-dated the degrees, all obtained between 2000 and 2001, 
to appear as if she earned them in 1993, 1995 and 2000, respectively. 
She landed the job of deputy DHS chief information officer in 2003.

Previously, as a White House computer supervisor, Callahan threatened 
computer workers to keep quiet about an embarrassing server glitch that 
led to the loss of thousands of archived emails covered by federal 
subpoenas pertaining to multiple Clinton scandals.

Former co-workers say they're shocked that Callahan passed a security 
background check and landed another sensitive post inside the federal 
government.

"She's a security risk," said a government computer specialist. "I don't 
know how she got clearance."

[...]

___________________________________________________________
Attend Black Hat USA 2011, hosted at Caesars Palace in
Las Vegas, Nevada July 30-Aug 4, offering over 60 training
sessions and 9 tracks of Briefings from security industry elite.
To sign up visit: http://www.blackhat.com