IG: DHS cybersecurity tools, training not up to par

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/homeland-security-cybersecurity-99347.html

By Tony Romm
Politico.com
11/5/13

The Department of Homeland Security has struggled to respond to 
cybersecurity threats and disseminate information about them because of 
lingering technical, funding and staffing woes, according to the agency’s 
inspector general.

As hackers increasingly take aim at U.S. banks and other top targets, DHS 
still lacks some tools to track the attacks, desperately needs additional 
analysts to interpret and share its information in real time and lags in 
its efforts to train its existing cybersecurity workforce, the watchdog 
found in a report released Monday.

The inspector general’s audit — conducted between January and May — comes 
at a time of total flux for DHS, which currently lacks a leader. President 
Barack Obama has nominated Jeh Johnson for the post; he’s yet to have a 
confirmation hearing.

In the meantime, though, DHS is center stage in the Obama administration’s 
ongoing campaign to raise the country’s digital defenses. An executive 
order signed by the president in February tasks the agency with standing 
up a new system to share threat data with industry while encouraging those 
businesses to improve their cybersecurity practices. That itself 
represents a daunting undertaking — and it’s one DHS faces as it also 
confronts lingering structural issues in its existing cybersecurity 
programs.

[...]

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