Fergie's Tech Blog

Two New Reports From the U.S. National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC)

Christian Beckner writes on Homeland Security Watch:

Two recently-completed reports by the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) were published on the DHS website this week:

The first report is entitled Workforce Preparation, Education and Research (7.3mb [.pdf] download). Its four key recommendations, according to the transmittal letter:

1. The Federal government should continue to support the education of our workforce via the Scholarship for Service Program (Cyber Corps);
2. Designate a coordinating body to oversee cyber security research efforts;
3. Designate a privately administered, public-private Information Assurance (IA) training certification body;
4. The Federal government should do everything in its power to assist states in implementing internationally competitive standards, curricula and teaching methods.

The second report is entitled Public-Private Sector Intelligence Coordination [.pdf], and it probes questions related to public and private sector cooperation on intelligence as it pertains to critical infrastructure protection.

That report makes eight recommendations, including a suggestion that “the U.S. Attorney General should publish a best practices guide for private sector employers to avoid being in conflict with the law” as it pertains to sharing information related to infrastructure vulnerabilities; and a recommendation that DHS and other federal entities should “rationalize and standardize the use of SBU markings, especially “For Official Use Only” (FOUO), and publish standard handling instructions clearly for all intended recipients.”

More here.

(Note: I post Beckner's entire blog post here because I believe there are some very important nuances in these reports. - ferg)

posted by Fergie @ 10/06/2006 03:37:00 PM