More Gov Agencies to Defend Cyberspace

We've sort of debated this a bit over the last few months, but I thought I'd forward you all a breaking news item that indicates the formation of a joint cyberdefense initiative for the U.S.

From today's Washington Post:

New Interagency Group to Oversee Cyberattack Defense -- By Brian Krebs

The Bush administration is planning to tap a Silicon Valley entrepreneur to head a new interagency group that will coordinate the government's efforts to protect its computer networks from organized cyberattacks.

Sources in the government contracting community said the White House is expected to announce as early as today the selection of Rod A. Beckstrom as a top-level adviser to be based in the Department of Homeland Security. Beckstrom is an author and entrepreneur best known for starting Twiki.net, a company that provides collaboration software for businesses.

The new interagency group, which will coordinate information sharing about cyberattacks aimed at government networks, is being created as part of a government-wide "cyber initiative" spelled out in a national security directive that President Bush signed in January, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not have permission to discuss the information.

The presidential directive expanded the intelligence community's role in monitoring Internet traffic to protect against a rising number of attacks on federal agencies' computer systems. According to the sources, the new group will gather information about cyberattacks and vulnerabilities from a wide range of federal agencies, including the FBI, the National Security Agency and the Defense Department. Beckstrom will report directly to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

-- Christian