[ISN] DHS Could Respond to Cyber Attack on Critical Infrastructure

[InfoSec News]

Forwarded from: Mark Bernard <mbernard at nbnet.nb.ca>

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0329/web-dhs-03-30-04.asp 

By Florence Olsen 
March 30, 2004  

In the event of a cyberattack on the nation's infrastructure, the 
Homeland Security Department would have the authority and the 
wherewithal to coordinate an appropriate response, department 
officials told lawmakers today.

Members of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security questioned 
top information technology officials at DHS, focusing on recent 
reports that the department remains disorganized within and not 
well-coordinated with other federal, state and local agencies and the 
private sector.

Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) said he is concerned about the lack of 
clear lines of authority for responding to a national cyberattack. 
"Who's in charge when we have a crisis?" he asked.

Robert Liscouski, assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at 
DHS, said lines of communication are in place so that DHS could 
coordinate a national response. He said DHS' authority to coordinate a 
response is based on a presidential directive, Homeland Security 
Presidential Directive No. 7, which President Bush issued on Dec. 17, 
2003. Authorities are still filling in the details of that directive, 
he said.

The fiscal 2005 budget for the National Cyber Security Division is $79 
million, most of which is allocated for building up a national 
cyberspace security readiness and response system, Liscouski said. The 
core of that system is the existing U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness 
Team.

For its internal security needs, department officials announced that 
they will use a commercial product, called Trusted Agent FISMA, to 
capture and maintain security reporting data required under the 
Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002. Steven Cooper, 
DHS' chief information officer, said the use of that tool should 
"improve the timeliness and accuracy of our reporting." DHS has fared 
poorly in recent reports on FISMA compliance.