FC: Feds face "pervasive weakness" in homeland IT security, GAO says

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 18:32:39 -0400
From: Mich Kabay <mkabay () compuserve com>
Subject: GAO Critical Infrastructure Protection report
Sender: Mich Kabay <mkabay () compuserve com>

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Critical Infrastructure Protection: Significant Homeland Security
Challenges Need to Be Addressed"

< http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02918t.pdf >

by Robert F. Dacey
Director, Information Security Issues
U.S. General Accounting Office

Released Tuesday 9 July 2002

Testimony presented before the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations,
Committee on Energy and Commerce,
U.S. House of Representatives


Highlights (quoted from document):

As proposed, the functions of the Information Analysis and
Infrastructure Protection division would include receiving and
analyzing law enforcement and intelligence information, assessing
cyber and physical vulnerabilities of critical infrastructures, and
taking measures to protect them.

The consolidation of these six organizations into a single division,
if properly implemented, could result in combining similar functions,
thereby avoiding duplication and possibly creating more robust
capabilities. For example, analysis and warning of cyber incidents is
currently performed by both the National Infrastructure Protection
Center and the Federal Computer Incident Response Center. However,
prior GAO work has identified and made recommendations concerning
several critical infrastructure protection challenges that need to be
addressed, which would face the new department. Specifically, they
are:
*  Developing a national critical infrastructure protection strategy.
*  Improving analytical and warning capabilities.
*  Improving information sharing.
*  Addressing pervasive weaknesses in federal information security.



M. E. Kabay, PhD, CISSP -- AssocProf Information Assurance
Dept CompInfoSys, Norwich University, Northfield VT
http://www2.norwich.edu/mkabay/index.htm

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