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Homeland Security Unprepared For Cyberattack?
Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
2006-07-28
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Senator Tom Coburn heavily criticized the U.S. Department of Homeland Security today, citing large amounts of money spent and little progress to show for it. The Republican from Oklahoma pushed for changes in the organization.
"Despite spending millions of dollars over the past year, DHS continues to struggle with how to effectively form and maintain effective public-private partnerships in support of cybersecurity," Senator Coburn said, as quoted in a CNET article.
One of the things the senator championed was an adjustment in personnel. "There's going to be an assistant secretary (for cybersecurity and telecommunications), I promise you, even if we have to raise the salary for the position."
The Department of Homeland Security's Undersecretary of Preparedness, George Foresman, was on hand to respond to the criticisms. He suggested that a recent Government Accountability Office report painted a picture of U.S. cybersecurity that "is much bleaker than what is the actual progress to date."
Foresman also felt that the government had learned a lot from its cyberattack exercise in February. What occurred during "Cyber Storm," and what might have been gained from it, remains something of a mystery, but a report should be released at some point. "These lessons, like those of Katrina, will not sit idle," Foresman assured the senator.
Senator Coburn, according to CNET's Anne Broache, seemed decidedly unimpressed by Foresman's responses. It is, of course, very common for politicians to exaggerate a problem so that they may appear properly outraged about it, but it's hard to say if that is the case here. Hopefully the "Cyber Storm" report will come out soon to offer more concrete information.
Tag: U.S. cybersecurity
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About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for SecurityProNews, InternetFinancialNews, SearchNewz, and WebProNews.
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