Fergie's Tech Blog

Group: US DHS Should Lose Its Cybersecurity Authority

Grant Gross writes on PC World:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been ineffective in coordinating government cybersecurity efforts and should be stripped of its authority in the area, members of a private cybersecurity task force told members of the U.S. Congress.

The authority for coordinating government cybersecurity efforts and enforcing mandates should be moved to the White House, members of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' (CSIS) cybersecurity commission told lawmakers Tuesday. DHS doesn't have the authority to force other government agencies to strengthen their cybersecurity efforts, said James Lewis, director of the Technology and Public Policy Program.

"We are under attack, and we are taking damage," Lewis told the House of Representatives' Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cyber Security and Science and Technology. "The U.S is disorganized and lacks a coherent national [cybersecurity] strategy."

posted by Fergie @ 9/16/2008 08:24:00 PM