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DHS Ends First Mock Cyberattack
John Stith
Staff Writer
2006-02-13
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) completed their Cyber Storm cyber-war games exercise last week. It was the first full-scale government-led cybersecurity exercise of its kind to examine response, coordination and recovery mechanisms from local, state, federal, international and private sector responses. There were 115 public, private and international agencies, organizations and companies involved.
 | | DHS Takes On Cyber Storm |  |
"Cyber security is critical to protecting our nation's infrastructure because information systems connect so many aspects of our economy and society," said George W. Foresman, DHS Under Secretary for Preparedness. "Preparedness against a cyber attack requires partnership and coordination between all levels of government and the private sector. Cyber Storm provides an excellent opportunity to enhance our nation's cyber preparedness and better manage risk."
Cyber Storm exercised national cyber incident response within the context of a large-scale cyber incident affecting the energy, information technology, telecommunications, and transportation sectors. Capabilities examined, include:
· Interagency coordination through the National Cyber Response Coordination Group;
· Identification of policy issues that affect response and recovery
· Identification of critical information sharing paths and mechanisms among public and private sectors; and
· Improvement and promotion of public and private sector interaction.
While the simulation was originally planned for the fall, the Gulf Coast hurricanes postponed everything. Results of the study aren't in yet but one can assume some drastic changes will need to be made worldwide.
This was also a sign the DHS needs to get someone into place to be the Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity. The post was mentioned when DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff announced a reorganization plan for the DHS. Right now, creation of the position is in stalled in the senate.
After the brutal 2005 for cybersecurity, this needs to be addressed. With hacks into military defense computers, defense contractors, financial institutions and a lot of other areas up to and including British Parliament, 2006 could well be an ugly year. It's definitely the time to fix these problems. The nationally weak cybersecurity infrastructure could easily be one of the greatest holes in the defense of the United States, certainly more so than a lot other avenues currently being pursued.
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About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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