The Us Government Is Elevating Its Involvement With The Private Sector To Secure Cyberspace

By Author: EC-COUNCIL
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The US government is elevating its involvement with the private sector to secure cyberspace, an effort that is a "shared responsibility" of the federal government and technology companies alike, said Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano.
The collaboration will require participation of highly skilled IT professionals to minimize attacks. Likening cyberspace to a neighborhood, marketplace, or schoolyard, Napolitano said that the federal government sees it as a "civilian space." This idea informs how the DHS works to protect cyberspace by trying to keep critical infrastructure and its connections to that civilian space safe. "This is not something we can do by ourselves," she said. "It requires a full range of partners--including other government agencies, the private sector, as well as individual users of the Internet."
The United States government needs to collaborate with academia and businesses to fight cyber-attacks, the Secretary of Homeland Security said in a speech to engineering students at the University of California at Berkeley. Organizations can minimize the chance of cyber ...
... attacks by hiring the right team of workforce. In her speech, she outlined some of the cyber-security challenges the federal agency regularly faces while protecting the nation’s critical security infrastructure.
Some of the more serious recent threats, she said, included the spread of the Stuxnet worm, the attacks on NASDAQ, the emails stolen from Epsilon and the data breach at RSA Security. Napolitano said that Congress is also likely to address the infamous Internet kill switch that would allow the government to disconnect critical infrastructure from the Internet in an emergency.
The so-called proposed “kill switch” legislation, a legislation that would grant the president internet-killing powers, came the same day Egyptians faced an internet blackout designed to counter massive demonstrations in that country. The bill, which has bipartisan support, is being floated by Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican ranking member on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The bill is designed to protect against “significant” cyber threats before they cause damage, Collins said.
“My legislation would provide a mechanism for the government to work with the private sector in the event of a true cyber emergency. It would give our nation the best tools available to swiftly respond to a significant threat.” The timing of when the legislation would be re-introduced was not immediately clear, as kinks to it are being worked out
The DHS is one of several federal agencies tasked with protecting not only federal cyberspace assets but also the U.S. critical infrastructure that powers the Internet against cyber attacks. To achieve that, the agency works closely with the private sector to share information about cyber attacks or potential threats to infrastructure. She also said the DHS also has been instrumental in setting guidelines for cyber security that organizations both inside and outside of government can follow.
Attacks are becoming increasingly more sophisticated and using “very novel” attack vectors, so it is important to be able to respond to a threat quickly. After the breach at RSA Security where SecurID information was stolen, the DHS worked with RSA, law enforcement authorities and the intelligence community to minimize the damage. Even though the cyber-security department at the DHS has “tripled” from 2009 to 2010, it’s not growing fast enough to keep up with the attackers. “We still need more people. We need a strong and innovative group to take on this incredible challenge that protections of cyber-space demand,” Napolitano said.
The number of cyber attacks is only going to increase if organizations fail to pay attention on the vulnerabilities of their network security. Organizations need to enforce robust information security initiatives, including having a proficiently skilled IT security workforce, in order to prevent cyber attacks and minimize security breaches. Information security professionals can increase their IT security knowledge and skills by embarking on advanced and highly technical training programs. EC-Council has launched the Center of Advanced Security Training (CAST), to address the deficiency of technically proficient information security professionals.
CAST will provide advanced technical security training covering topics such as Advanced Penetration Testing, Digital Mobile Forensics, Advanced Application Security, Advanced Network Defense, and Cryptography, among others. These highly sought after and lab intensive information security training courses will be offered at all EC-Council hosted conferences and events, and through specially selected authorized training centers.

About EC-COUNCIL
EC-Council is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in various e-business and security skills. It is the owner and developer of the world famous Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) course, Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) program, License Penetration Tester (LPT) program and various other information security training programs offered in over 70 countries around the globe. EC-Council has trained over 80,000 individuals in technical security training and certified more than 38,000 security professionals. EC-Council has launched the Center of Advanced Security Training (CAST), to address the deficiency in the lack of highly technically skilled information security professionals.