Security groups call for crisis coordination center

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0315/web-cybersec-03-18-04.asp

By Florence Olsen 
March 18, 2004

Two national task forces organized by the National Cyber Security
Partnership called for a public awareness campaign, an early warning
contact network and a national crisis coordination center to improve
the nation's responses to cyber vulnerabilities, threats and
incidents.

Created last December at the National Cyber Security Summit, the task
forces released their recommendations today for improving the nation's
cybersecurity defenses. The National Cyber Security Partnership was
formed to bring together private organizations and government
agencies.

No price tag was attached to the task forces' suggestions, but
establishing a national crisis coordination center by 2006 most likely
would require legislation or an executive order. Guy Copeland, who led
the Early Warning Task Force, said the center would coordinate threat
analyses, warnings, research and responses for critical
infrastructure-sector experts and federal, state and local officials.  
Copeland is vice president of information infrastructure advisory
programs for Computer Sciences Corp.'s federal-sector business.

The center would "bridge some cultural barriers that have hampered a
true partnership in counterterrorism and cybersecurity," the task
force report said.

The early warning contact network, to be set up as early as December,
would be a multichannel network housed and administered by the
Homeland Security Department's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team.  
Communication would occur primarily via the Internet, although task
force leaders recommended having a backup means of communicating if
the Internet goes down.

Other recommendations of the task forces would be relatively
inexpensive and easy to achieve. The Common Sense Guide to Cyber
Security for Small Businesses, prepared by the Internet Security
Alliance, is already available and free for downloading. The Awareness
and Outreach Task Force has as one of its initial goals to reach 50
million households.

Reaching home users will be accomplished largely through the
cooperation of Internet service providers who would keep their
customers informed of cybersecurity threats and attacks, task force
leaders said.

The task force also recommended reaching corporation executives
through a series of regional homeland security forums with DHS
officials, beginning in September, and through a direct-mail campaign,
to begin in July. Both the forums and the mailings would emphasize the
role of senior corporate executives in securing cyberspace.

As a strategy to extend cybersecurity awareness to state and local
governments, the outreach task force recommended holding DHS forums
with governors and mayors, similar to the forums that will be held
with industry leaders.

The cybersecurity partnership, headed by the Business Software
Alliance; the Information Technology Association of America; TechNet,
a chief executive officers group; and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
includes academic, corporate, government and industry cybersecurity
experts.



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