Today's Headlines and Commentary

Many thanks to Ritika for taking the Roundup wheel, so to speak, while I was out of the office for a few days. David Sanger and Nicole Perlroth have this important piece in the New York Times on cybermatters.   The gist: DHS recently cautioned that U.S. companies providing critical services face a heightened risk of cyberattack.  Fear motivated the agency's warning, which the Washington Post's Ellen Nakashima covered last week.  One government official worried aloud that "someone is looking at how to take control of these systems." Also at the Times, Nick Bilton and Nicole Perlroth report on the Syrian Electronic Army's takeover of, among others, The Onion's Twitter account. The Wall Street Journal shares the transcript from a conversation among experts about mandatory cybersecurity standards for the private sector.  Brent Kendall in the same paper discusses the Federal Trade Commission's claim that  its consumer-protection powers authorize the agency to regulate certain companies' cybersecurity policies. Cyber-news from the Empire State: Governor Andrew Cuomo has established an advisory board that will explore improving the cyber-defense of New York's infrastructure and information systems. There's still quite a lot of post-Benghazi hearing analysis out there, including these two NPR pieces: one about the absence of Accountability Review Board chair Ambassador Thomas Pickering from last week's congressional hearing; and another about the GOP's charges against former SecState Clinton, and their implications for her potential presidential run.  The New York Times's Peter Baker also analyzes Ambassador Pickering's explanation for why the Board didn't question SecState Clinton, and the Times's Room for Debate reviews her tenure as SecState. The AP reported over the weekend that Egypt's security forces have arrested three individuals suspected of plotting attacks on an "unspecified foreign embassy" and other places in Egypt. And over in Afghanistan, that country's authorities say they have proof that Americans, including members of U.S. Special Forces units, have tortured and murdered Afghan civilians. Rod Nordland reports at the Times. Republican Senator John McCain thinks the Joint Chiefs of Staff are avoiding the imposition of a no-fly zone in Syria.  (The senator wants the U.S. to do more to support the anti-Assad forces.)  Sam Baker of The Hill covers McCain's remarks over the weekend. And now that Pakistan's elections have concluded, the victor, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, says that he would like to strengthen the Pakistani-U.S. relationship. His remarks came in this interview with the Wall Street Journal. Late last week Guatemala's former dictator, Jose Efrain Rios Montt, was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity in a Guatemalan court. The Economist notes the significance of his conviction.  The Wall Street Journal's Nicholas Casey also discusses the case's implications for the country's current president---who, according to a prosecution witness, participated in the genocide as well. The Journal story also tells us that the judge in Montt's trial ordered prosecutors to launch investigations into the roles of those under Montt's command. As Ben noted over the weekend, NPR had this lengthy All Things Considered piece about GTMO. Wired's David Kravets notes a provision in the Senate's immigration bill.  It would authorize the creation of a DHS photo database, which employers would use in order to verify new hires' identities. Privacy advocates are, unsurprisingly, concerned. An uncomfortable development in public health: France has confirmed a second case of a SARS-like infection. The victim shared a hospital room with the country's first confirmed case, who may have contracted the virus while on a trip to the United Arab Emirates. Here's the Journal with more. For more interesting law and security-related articles, follow us on Twitter and check out the Lawfare News Feed, visit the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law’s Security Law Brief,  Syracuse’s Institute for National Security & Counterterrorism’s newsroll, and Fordham Law’s Center on National Security’s Morning Brief and Cyber Brief. Email Raffaela Wakeman and Ritika Singh noteworthy articles to include, visit the Lawfare Events Calendar for upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings at the Lawfare Job Board.