The Need To Strengthen Information Security At The Department Of Homeland Security

The need to strengthen information security at the Department of Homeland Security: hearing before the Subcommittee on Management, Integration, and Oversight of the Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives, One Hundred Ninth Congress, first session, April 14, 2005.

The need to strengthen information security at the Department of Homeland Security : hearing before the Subcommittee on Management, Integration, and Oversight of the Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives, One Hundred Ninth Congress, first session, April 14, 2005.

The Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) is the focal point for the security of cyberspace. DHS is required to coordinate cyber attack exercises to strengthen public and private incident response capabilities. One major exercise program, called Cyber Storm, is a large-scale simulation of multiple concurrent cyber attacks involving the fed. gov¿t., states, foreign gov¿ts., and private industry. DHS has conducted Cyber Storm exercises in 2006 and 2008. This report: (1) identifies the lessons that DHS learned from the first Cyber Storm exercise; (2) assesses DHS¿s efforts to address the lessons learned from this exercise; and (3) identifies key participants¿ views of their experiences during the second Cyber Storm exercise. Includes recommendations. Illus.

Pervasive and sustained computer-based (cyber) attacks against federal and private-sector infrastructures pose a potentially devastating impact to systems and operations and the critical infrastructures that they support. Congress and the Executive Branch, including the new administration, have taken actions to examine the adequacy of Pres. Bush¿s strategy and identify areas for improvement. This report summarizes: (1) key reports and recommendations on the national cyber-security strategy; and (2) the views of experts on how to strengthen the strategy. The auditor conducted panel discussions with key cyber-security experts to solicit their views on areas for improvement. Illustrations.