NetWitness Corporation - Led by Israelis

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

March 23, 2009 | NetWitness Launches Online Intelligence Service Enabling Customers to Protect Against Emerging Threats

NetWitness Live Provides Immediate Access to Multi-Source Threat Intelligence

HERNDON, VA – March 23, 2009 – NetWitness Corporation, the leading provider of next generation network monitoring and threat analysis solutions, today announced the launch of NetWitness Live, a 24x7 data feed that empowers customers to immediately leverage real-time threat-intelligence and reputational content using their NetWitness infrastructure. This new service provides radar-like visibility into threats being discovered elsewhere on the Internet, and allows customers to easily identify, prioritize and remediate their responses.

For the first time, NetWitness Live provides public and private organizations the real-time ability to navigate the full content of network threat intelligence from multiple, globally-distributed threat intelligence sources. Unlike other services which focus on single source intelligence, NetWitness Live enables users to tailor their data feeds according to their environment and threat profile.

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Industry : Government

Government organizations face a number of key concerns regarding the protection of data crossing its network:

    * Ensuring that consumer and citizen data, particular personally identifiable information is not disclosed inappropriately or without the proper consent
    * Protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the organization's data, including national security information if a federal agency
    * Complying with regulatory mandates such as FISMA, OMB A-11 and M-06-15
    * Meeting the organization's business and mission objectives securely, whether domestic or overseas
    * Detecting attempts to breach the security of government systems and reacting quickly and effectively

During the last few years, state and non-state sponsored cyber threats have grown geometrically in terms of capability and effectiveness. The ability of deployed countermeasures to protect, defend and respond to these threats has been less than stellar in the case of some high profile government organizations. Large scale incursions and data exfiltrations have taken place. These gaps are not due to a lack of smart people or ongoing technology investments, but because a new approach is required to deal with the level of sophistication of current threat actors.

Government organizations, particularly those in the Defense, Intelligence, Homeland Security and Critical Infrastructure communities must have a zero tolerance approach to data leakage, insider threats, and designer malware created by nation-sponsored actors. NetWitness views all these issues as interrelated and can help your organization deal with all of them with a single solution: NetWitness NextGen.

The Need for Next Generation Monitoring

NetWitness NextGen™ solves this problem for government organizations by offering a powerful infrastructure that records all the data across on the network and performs fully automated analyses of immense volumes of reconstructed network, application, and user traffic via the NetWitness Informer application. Informer is specifically designed to provide specific and accurate threat alerts and in depth policy and regulatory compliance reports on a wide variety of categories pertinent to government agencies. For example, for the U.S. government, Informer is tuned to focus on issues related to FISMA, NIST FIPS 200, SP-800-37, HSPD #12 and much more. Informer distills highly sophisticated sets of complex network data and quickly highlights important government business concerns such as insider threats, data leakage, covert activities/channels, compromised hosts and malware activities.

NextGen also delivers the NetWitness Investigator application that delivers a highly interactive, deep, real-time view into the same network traffic sets collected and reconstructed via the NextGen infrastructure. Investigator enables security, counterintelligence and law enforcement personnel to access multi-terabyte data sets and pivot them instantly in numerous dimensions based on network, application and user-level criteria. Users of Investigator can view this data cube on a continual and real-time basis to zero in on traffic of greatest interest and impact to the organization.

NetWitness Decoder and Concentrator comprise the underpinnings of an enterprise infrastructure providing government agencies comprehensive situational awareness and visibility into content and context of all network activity. When combined with power of automated reporting and alerting in NetWitness Informer and the interactive network forensics and analytics in NetWitness Investigator, your organization can acquire the Total Network Knowledge needed to deal effectively across all of the issues facing the public sector. Now with NetWitness® Live, your incident response team has access to multi-source threat intelligence.

http://www.netwitness.com//solutions/government.aspx

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

Board of Directors

Amit Yoran, Chairman and CEO
Amit Yoran led the management buyout of NetWitness from ManTech in 2006 and serves as the Chairman and CEO. Prior to NetWitness, he was appointed as Director of the National Cyber Security Division of Homeland Security, and as CEO and advisor to In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the CIA. Formerly Mr Yoran served as the Vice President of Worldwide Managed Security Services at the Symantec Corporation. Mr. Yoran was the co-founder of Riptech, a market leading IT security company, and served as its CEO until the company was acquired by Symantec in 2002. He served as an officer in the United States Air Force in the Department of Defense's Computer Emergency Response Team.

Nick Lantuh, Director and President
Nick Lantuh is President of NetWitness Corporation. Prior to this role, Mr. Lantuh was Vice President of the NetWitness Product Group, a Division of ManTech International, where he was brought in to run day to day operations and to formulate the NetWitness Group's management buy-out. Mr. Lantuh brings 17 years of Sales and Marketing leadership, fund raising & start up experience, ranging from pre-revenue start-ups to Fortune 100. From 1999 to 2003, while at Cisco, Mr. Lantuh built and led two nationwide sales teams in both the Enterprise and Carrier markets, closing some of Cisco's largest accounts and deals while exceeding revenue targets. Mr. Lantuh has also led the sales, marketing and business development efforts of pre-revenue start-ups in the security, software, wireless and networking spaces leading to three acquisitions and an IPO.

H.P. Goldfield, Director
H.P. Goldfield is Vice Chairman of Stonebridge International, LLC, based in Washington, DC. Stonebridge is an international strategic advisory firm which advises and assists multinational companies globally on strategic challenges and opportunities. Mr. Goldfield also serves as a senior international advisor at the global law firm of Hogan & Hartson L.L.P, Washington, DC, where he advises domestic and foreign clients on international trade and related activities and conflict resolution. Mr. Goldfield's responsibilities also include the development and execution of legislative and regulatory strategies. Mr. Goldfield also served as Associate Counsel to the President at the White House and as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Black & Veatch Holding company, serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Middle East Institute, and is a member of the Board of the Israel Policy Forum. He was also appointed to the National Chamber Foundation Board of Directors at the US Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Goldfield earned a JD Degree from Georgetown University Law Center, a Master's Degree in Urban Studies from Occidental College, and a Bachelor's Degree in Asian Studies, Cum Laude, from Connecticut College in 1973.

Gilman Louie, Director
Gilman Louie is a partner of Alsop Louie Partners, a venture capital fund focused on helping entrepreneurs start companies. He is the founder and former CEO of In-Q-Tel, a strategic venture fund created to help enhance national security by connecting the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. intelligence community with venture-backed entrepreneurial companies. Previously Mr. Louie built a career as a pioneer in the interactive entertainment industry, with accomplishments that include the design and development of the Falcon F-16 flight simulator as well as being the person who licensed Tetris, the world's most popular computer game, from its developers in the Soviet Union. Mr. Louie founded and ran Spectrum Holobyte which was acquired by Hasbro Corporation, where he served as chief creative officer of Hasbro Interactive and general manager of the Games.com group. Mr. Louie has served on a number of boards of directors, including Wizards of the Coast, Total Entertainment Network, Direct Language, FASA Interactive, and most recently the National Venture Capital Association. He serves as a member of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age. In 2006, Mr. Louie was presented with the Directors Award for his service in creating In-Q-Tel and providing service to the intelligence community. Mr. Louie completed the Advanced Management program/International Seniors Management Program at Harvard Business School and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from San Francisco State University.

John P. Watters, Director
John P. Watters is Chairman and CEO of iSIGHT Partners, a Global Risk Mitigation company based in Dallas, Texas. Earlier, Mr. Watters was Chairman and CEO of iDEFENSE until its successful acquisition by Verisign in 2005. In the 15 years prior to entering the risk management business with the iDEFENSE acquisition, Mr. Watters was Chairman and CEO of several large diversified investment companies managing principal investments totaling more than $300M. He has served on over 20 corporate and non-profit Board of Directors. He has been actively involved in supporting scholarships for inner-city children in Dallas. Currently he serves on the Investment Committee of the Jesuit Foundation in Dallas and is the Chairman of its Investment Committee since 2000. Mr. Watters graduated from Santa Clara University, and attended the London School of Economics.

Suzanne Gorman, Director
Suzanne Gorman is the Director of Governance at Omgeo, the market leader in development and deployment of post-trade, pre-settlement solutions. Prior to Omgeo, Ms. Gorman served as the Managing Director of Corporate Information Security for the Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC) for 15 years. At SIAC and The NYSE Group, Ms. Gorman designed and implemented a comprehensive Information Security program. She has over 25 years of experience in the Financial Services Sector with a strong focus on Information Security. As an active contributor on numerous government councils and advisory committees, she worked on government initiatives at the state and national level. Ms. Gorman has served as the Chairperson of the Financial Services Information Sharing Analysis Center (FS/ISAC) and ISAC Council. In September 2003, Information Security Magazine identified Ms. Gorman as one of the top 25 "Women of Vision". In December 2006, Network World named Ms. Gorman as one of "The 50 Most Powerful People in Networking".

http://www.netwitness.com//company/boarddirectors.aspx

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

In-Q-Tel

In-Q-Tel of Arlington, Virginia, United States is a not-for-profit venture capital firm that invests in high-tech companies for the sole purpose of keeping the Central Intelligence Agency equipped with the latest in information technology in support of United States intelligence capability.[4] Originally named Peleus and known as In-Q-It, In-Q-Tel was launched in 1999 under the direction of Gilman Louie.[4] In-Q-Tel's mission is to identify and invest in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve United States national security interests. Working from an evolving strategic blueprint defining the Intelligence Community's critical technology needs, In-Q-Tel engages with entrepreneurs, growth companies, researchers, and venture capitalists to deliver technologies that provide superior capabilities for the CIA, DIA, NGA, and the larger Intelligence Community. In-Q-Tel concentrates on three broad commercial technology areas: software, infrastructure and materials sciences.

Former CIA director George Tenet says,

    We [the CIA] decided to use our limited dollars to leverage technology developed elsewhere. In 1999 we chartered ... In-Q-Tel. ... While we pay the bills, In-Q-Tel is independent of CIA. CIA identifies pressing problems, and In-Q-Tel provides the technology to address them. The In-Q-Tel alliance has put the Agency back at the leading edge of technology ... This ... collaboration ... enabled CIA to take advantage of the technology that Las Vegas uses to identify corrupt card players and apply it to link analysis for terrorists [cf. the parallel data-mining effort by the SOCOM-DIA operation Able Danger ], and to adapt the technology that online booksellers use and convert it to scour millions of pages of documents looking for unexpected results.

In-Q-Tel sold 5,636 shares of Google Inc., worth over $2.2 million, on Nov 15, 2005. The stocks were a result of Google's acquisition of Keyhole, the CIA funded satellite mapping software now known as Google Earth.

As of August 2006, In-Q-Tel had reviewed more than 5,800 business plans, invested some $150 million in more than 90 companies, and delivered more than 130 technology solutions to the intelligence community. In 2005 it was said to be funded with about $37 million a year from the CIA.
Contents
[hide]

    * 1 Selected investments
    * 2 Governance
    * 3 Other related personnel
    * 4 Views of In-Q-Tel
    * 5 References
    * 6 External links

Selected investments

Of those companies listed on In-Q-Tel's investment website page,[9] Hoover's company records identifies the following companies as being selected investments of In-Q-Tel:

    * 3VR
    * A4Vision
    * Adapx
    * Agent Logic
    * ArcSight
    * Attensity
    * Basis Technology
    * Bay Microsystems
    * CallMiner
    * Cambrios Technology
    * Convera
    * Decru
    * Dust Networks
    * Electro Energy, Inc.
    * Endeca
    * FMS, Inc.
    * Gemalto
    * Fluidigm
    * IatroQuest
    * Intelliseek Inc.
    * Inxight
    * Keyhole, Inc
    * Kofax
    * Language Weaver
    * MetaCarta
    * MotionDSP[10]
    * MetricStream
    * Nanosys
    * Network Chemistry
    * NovoDynamics
    * Paratek
    * piXlogic
    * Qynergy
    * Rosum
    * Seahawk Biosystems
    * Soflinx
    * Spotfire
    * Stratify, Inc.
    * SRD, Inc.
    * Tacit Software
    * Traction Software
    * Visual Sciences
    * Wispry

In-Q-Tel functions partially in public, however what products it has and how they are used is strictly secret.[8] According to the Washington Post, virtually any U.S. entrepreneur, inventor or research scientist working on ways to analyze data has probably received a phone call from In-Q-Tel or at least been Googled by its staff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-Q-Tel

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

The Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security

National Security

Projects

   The Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age
The Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age is comprised of a diverse and bipartisan group of experienced policymakers, senior executives from the information technology industry, public interest advocates, and experts in privacy, intelligence, and national security. The Markle Task Force was established in 2002 to help inform the policy judgments of the federal, state and local governments regarding the collection and use of information as it relates to national security. (Find out more about the Markle Task Force.)    
   Energy and National Security
In its ongoing efforts to explore new ways of addressing emerging national security needs, Markle has been working in partnership with the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) to study the challenges posed by the complex intersection of growing energy demands, technological change, global instability, and US national security. This project began with the recognition that the relationship between energy and security will be one of the most important policy challenges confronting the United States in the 21st century, affecting the nation's standing and its global influence. (Learn more about the US Energy Security project.)    
   Olympic Security Review Conference
The Markle Foundation, along with Siebel Systems and the Utah Department of public safety, was a conference sponsor of the Olympic Security Review Conference in Salt Lake City on October 24 and 25, 2002. More than sixty participants from the private sector and from the state, local and federal public safety community attended. Most of the participants were people who played a central role in developing and executing the Olympic security plan. (Download related report - PDF 1.4MB)    
   Terrorism: Questions and Answers
The Council on Foreign Relations, in cooperation with the Markle Foundation launched an online encyclopedia of terrorism to give the public an up-to-date, easy-to-read, authoritative primer on what the experts know - and don't know. The website also features This Week in the War on Terrorism summarizing new events in key areas such as the Investigation, Homeland Defense, New Legislation, and Global Repercussions of 9/11. (Go to website)

http://www.markle.org/markle_programs/p ... /projects/


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March 10, 2009
Markle Task Force Releases, "Nation At Risk: Policy Makers Need Better Information to Protect the Country"

The latest report from the Markle Task Force urges the President and Congress to take swift action to ensure that policy makers have the best information available to confront a stark set of 21st century national security challenges.

Download Full Report (PDF, 367K).
Download Executive Summary (PDF, 185K)
Download Summary of Specific Recommendations (PDF, 192K)

Read Press Release (PDF, 102K)

http://www.markletaskforce.org/
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(Reads like a Bar-Mitzvah)

 Co-Chairs
Zoë Baird
James Barksdale

Members
Robert D. Atkinson
Eric Benhamou
Jerry Berman
Robert M. Bryant
Ashton B. Carter
Wesley Clark
William P. Crowell
Bryan Cunningham
Jim Dempsey
Mary DeRosa
Sidney D. Drell
Esther Dyson
Amitai Etzioni
Richard Falkenrath
David J. Farber
John Gage
John Gordon
Slade Gorton
Morton H. Halperin
Margaret A. Hamburg
John J. Hamre
Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Jeff Jonas
Arnold Kanter
Tara Lemmey
Gilman Louie
John O. Marsh, Jr.
Judith A. Miller
James H. Morris
Craig Mundie
Jeffrey H. Smith
Abraham D. Sofaer
James B. Steinberg
Kim Taipale
Rick White
Richard Wilhelm

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

Markle Task Force member and former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton and Police Chief J. Thomas Manger of Maryland's Montgomery County Police Department also spoke at the hearing. Gorton called on government agencies to eliminate "stovepiping" and collaborate more. He said, "Cultural, institutional, and perceived technological obstacles have slowed the implementation of laws intended to facilitate the flow of information and create new ways of collaborating." Manager voiced strong support for the development of a national Suspicious Activity Reporting System (SARS) by which fusion centers can "connect the dots" to recognize threats. SARS does have potential drawbacks. According to Manager, "No police chief wants his officers involved in confrontational interactions with people engaged in innocent, constitutionally protected behavior. Not every person wearing baggy pants is a gang-banger and not every person videotaping the Washington Monument is a terrorist."

Chairman Cardin called for additional hearings on this subject.

http://www.ombwatch.org/node/9934