Monday, February 17, 2003

Securing Cyberspace - Final Release? Late last week, the Whitehouse released the final version of the National Plan for Securing Cyberspace.  Among the plan's recommendations:  Adoption of a warning and incident information network A single Department of Homeland Security contact for the federal government and industry to report incidents Cyberattack exercises on government agencies to gauge the impact of such attacks The Department of Commerce to examine security issues related to IPv6 The Department of Homeland Security to recommend that ISPs adopt a "code of good conduct" The Department of Energy and other concerned agencies to develop best practices for securing distributed control systems, such as SCADA With respect to state and local governments, the plan states, DHS will Work with State and Local Governments and Encourage them to Consider Establishing IT Security Programs and to Participate in ISACs with Similar Governments Finally, "state and local governments are encouraged to establish IT security programs for their departments and agencies, including awareness, audits, and standards; and to participate in the established ISACs with similar governments."  The plan is careful not to commit states to any course of action, but merely makes suggestions. News items on the final plan: Network World Fusion CNET New York Times Washington Post Government Computer News USA Today 7:47:40 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 David Fletcher.