US cyber center opens to battle computer attacks

WASHINGTON — The United States is well behind the curve in the fight against computer criminals, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Friday, as Homeland Security officials opened a $9 million operations center to better coordinate the government's response to cyberattacks.

Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said legislation being drafted by his committee will require federal agencies and private companies to set up a system to share information on cyber threats.

And Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, said the Homeland Security Department must identify weaknesses in the systems that run power plants and other critical infrastructure.

As Lieberman laid out his proposal to Chamber of Commerce executives, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano unveiled the new National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center in northern Virginia.

Standing in front of a wall of broad video screens, that displayed vivid charts and maps of possible cyber threats and suspicious internet traffic, Napolitano said the watch center will allow the high-tech teams that monitor government networks to work better together.

With 61 computer stations spread across the room, the center will merge the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team and the National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications. AP

Homeland Security beefs up to combat cyber attacks

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will hire as many as 1,000 people as computer security specialists in an effort to defend government and private online networks, Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano said.

The plan would be a way for "recruiting the best people in the world," Napolitano last week told a Washington cyber-security forum. She said she will hire software analysts, developers and engineers to be employed by the Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies in her department.

More workers are needed due to the increasing number and complexity of cyber attacks, Philip Reitinger, deputy under secretary of the National Protection and Programs Directorate at the department, told a Senate panel earlier this month.

Mercury News

Help Wanted: Homeland Security Seeks Cybersecurity Pros

Hiring has become a top priority for the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity arm, a key player in the U.S. government's push to bolster online defenses.

The Obama administration has given Department of Homeland Security the go-ahead to hire up to 1,000 new cybersecurity pros over the next three years, secretary Janet Napolitano said today.

The new hiring authority will let DHS, a key agency in the nation's cybersecurity strategy, fill positions in risk and strategic analysis, incident response, vulnerability detection, intelligence, investigation, and network and systems engineering.

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Mobile devices are improving fast, and demand for them is increasing as traders require increased efficiency, new Pyxis Mobile Chairman and CEO, Robert P. tells Mazzarella tells WS&T's Melanie Rodier. "It's about getting your data when you want it...The agency says it doesn't currently foresee having to fill all 1,000 positions, but Homeland Security for the National Protection and Programs Directorate and director of the National Cyber Security Center Phil Reitinger told InformationWeek last month that hiring qualified cybersecurity pros was his top priority.
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