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Is the U.S. Ready for a Cyber Emergency?

by Terrence O'Brien on February 21, 2009 at 02:31 PM

Is the U.S. Ready for a Cyber Emergency

A significant question is currently weighing on the minds of many in the federal government: Are we ready for a cyber-emergency?

Paul Kurtz, a security official under Presidents Clinton and Bush, and a member of the Obama transition team, posed that question to a crowd during the Black Hat DC computer security conference Wednesday. "Is there a FEMA for the Internet?" he asked.

While the U.S. has been the target of attacks before, and while cyber-security has become a major topic of conversation, the U.S. still seems woefully under-prepared for what Kurtz termed a "cyber-Katrina." It isn't clear what government agency would have jurisdiction in such an event, and the military doesn't have the cyber-weapons needed to detect attacks, track them, and take countermeasures.

Kurtz says the Obama administration has an "ambitious agenda" for cyber-security, but that more work needs to be done. In particular, he believes that intelligence agencies need intensive help in heading off future attacks.

Clearly the government has some plan to protect the nation from a cyber-emergency or attack. Now let's just hope they can build the appropriate infrastructure and procedures before it's too late. [From: Technology Review]

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Tags: cyber emergency, cyber security, CyberEmergency, CyberSecurity, government, intelligence, military, security

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