Los Angeles creates 'Cyber Intrusion Command Center'

[Lee J <lee () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/30/us-usa-losangeles-cybercommand-idUSBRE99T1FW20131030

(Reuters) - Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, citing warnings by President
Barack Obama and National Intelligence Director James Clapper about the
threat of attacks on computer networks, on Wednesday announced the creation
of the city's first "Cyber Intrusion Command Center."

The command center, which will be operated with the assistance of the FBI
and Secret Service, will be staffed by cyber security experts who will scan
the city's computer networks for threats and quickly respond to breaches,
according to the mayor's office.

"I'm creating this Cyber Intrusion Command Center so that we have a single,
focused team responsible for implementing enhanced security standards
across city departments and serving as a rapid reaction force to
cyber-attacks," Garcetti said in a written statement.

"Cybersecurity means protecting the basic services at the core of city
government, and it means protecting our critical infrastructure like our
port and airport, which we know are top targets," he said.

The mayor's directive also calls on all departments in America's
second-largest city to establish liaisons with the command center and
report computer threats and "significant cyber-related events" to its staff.

In his executive directive ordering creation of the command center,
Garcetti pointed to a February 2013 order by Obama in which the president
called cyber threats one of the most serious economic and national security
challenges facing the country.

He also noted that Clapper, in testifying before Congress in March and
April of 2013, warned of state and non state actors "using cyber techniques
and capabilities to achieve strategic objectives by gathering sensitive
information from public and private sector entities."

Clapper, head of the National Security Agency, has been in the spotlight
again this week as he defends his beleaguered organization in front of
Congress over reports that the NSA collected data on millions of phone
calls in Europe.

The hearing took place as Congress considers new legislative proposals that
could limit the NSA's more expansive electronic intelligence collection
programs, details of which have been leaked by former contractor Edward
Snowden.

But Garcetti press deputy Vicki Curry said the Cyber Intrusion Command
Center was geared toward more mundane Internet threats.

"We're more concerned about city operations. Our traffic systems, our
street services," she said, adding that officials were also worried about
identity theft involving city employees or hackers who might compromise
systems.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Gunna Dickson)

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