Info security speeding up

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/0917/web-secure-09-18-01.asp

By Diane Frank 
Sept. 18, 2001

Information security programs and systems at agencies across
government are going forward, in some cases faster than before, in the
wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon.

This rush comes as administrators at civilian agencies ranging from
the Federal Aviation Administration to the Education Department's
Office of Student Financial Assistance Programs are paying full
attention to the risk of not securing every portion of their services
against any type of attack, agency officials said Sept. 17. They made
their comments at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics
Association's Bethesda Chapter breakfast on information security.

At the FAA, especially, programs that would have taken two to three
years to implement, will take considerably less time now, said Michael
Brown, director of the agency's Office of Information Systems
Security.

"I fully feel that the process will be greatly accelerated," he said.

For example, since last week, the FAA's computer emergency response
team went from a part-time operation that would not be
around-the-clock for another nine months to one that is fully
operational now, he said.

The Justice Department had plans to address security weaknesses
highlighted in the department's report under the Government
Information Security Reform Act. But following the attacks, Justice is
already tightening its network access and authentication, moving from
policy to implementation, said Kevin Deeley, acting deputy director
for Justice's information management and security staff.

During the past few years, the level of security awareness in the
federal government has improved, said Laura Callahan, deputy chief
information officer at the Labor Department and co-chair of the CIO
Council's Security, Privacy and Critical Infrastructure Committee.

But the proof of true understanding of security threats will be
demonstrated as agencies receive the resources to follow through on
programs, she said.



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