Pentagon joins Homeland, FBI in eyeing oversight, control of elections

Pentagon joins Homeland, FBI in eyeing oversight, control of elections: Concerns about Russian hacking into the November 8 election have now reached the Pentagon where the military's top cyber official has outlined a plan to help the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to track an election altering attack. What's more, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, has added his voice to that of Homeland Secretary Jeh Johnson who is considering whether the election system is critical infrastructure, like the power grid and financial sector, and subject to federal oversight. What is critical infrastructure in this digital age? Data, I would argue, is taking on a very different value in and of itself. And the ability of individuals to harness the tools of big data analytics now make access to large data concentrations...very attractive, Rogers said at Harvard University this month in a video released Wednesday. I look at the election sequence for example, as an example of, 'Do we need to step back and reassess this? Hey, look, this really is part of our critical infrastructure? he said.