Homeland Security's Kelly Wants More Partnership With 'Commercial Concerns'
The Department of Homeland Security should partner more with "commercial concerns" like Microsoft to help the department fulfill its mission, said Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, speaking Tuesday at a George Washington University streamed event. Responding to a question about…
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cyber from Frank Cilluffo, who directs the university's Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, Kelly said the department's job is protecting dot-gov websites, but it wants to partner "to the greatest degree possible" with business. Kelly said he recently met with Microsoft leadership in Seattle and said executives there are "very, very interested in partnering as we are." Kelly didn't provide further detail but said President Donald Trump is involved in outreach efforts and is organizing an "internal commission" to look at the issue. Microsoft didn't comment but a DHS spokesman emailed that the secretary's comments about Trump's commission were in reference to the White House Office of Innovation led by the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner (see 1703270043). Kelly's speech and discussion with Cilluffo focused on the secretary's wide-ranging mission, including cyber-related issues. Kelly said the internet is helping terrorists spread "hateful" propaganda, recruit soldiers and plan attacks. “And thanks to new and ever improving and proliferating encryption devices and secure communication techniques these individuals are becoming harder and harder and I predict eventually impossible to detect," he said. A recent Tech:NYC policy paper said the Trump administration strongly supports access to device encryption, which the tech industry and privacy advocates oppose (see 1704140034).