Fergie's Tech Blog

Too Many U.S. Agencies Tackle Cyber Security Threats

Loren B. Thompson writes for UPI:

Within the U.S. federal government, most of the funding allocated to information security and offensive cyber operations is spent by agencies of the Department of Defense.

The biggest player is the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Md., which since the early days of the Cold War has been engaged in collecting and analyzing signals intelligence.

The NSA appears to have lead responsibility for securing all intelligence networks, and it shares expertise with the Defense Information Systems Agency that oversees military networks.

U.S. Strategic Command is the lead combatant command responsible for information operations and cybersecurity. In addition, each of the military departments of the Department of Defense -- the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force -- has a dedicated command for managing information networks and assuring their security.

Although it receives much less money for network operations and security than the Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is the lead federal agency for coordinating national cyberdefense initiatives.

posted by Fergie @ 1/09/2009 06:44:00 PM