Security News > 2011 > March > Why DHS, Not White House, Took Lead on RSA Breach Response
http://www.govinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=3454 By Eric Chabrow Executive Editor GovInfoSecurity.com March 21, 2011 Pondering government cybersecurity leadership, first thoughts might go to the White House and the office of Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt. But the voice of IT security in the Obama administration often seems to be the Department of Homeland Security, not the White House. And, the government's face on cybersecurity matters could be that of Philip Reitinger, deputy undersecretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate, DHS's highest ranking cybersecurity executive. When RSA announced last week that it was under a sophisticated attack targeting its SecurID products, inquiries to Schmidt's White House office, the Pentagon and the National Security Agency about how the federal government is responding to the virtual assault and what impact it was having on government IT security were referred to DHS. DHS initially didn't have a response. By late Friday, DHS issued a 119-word statement that provided scant details but said the government was working with RSA on the problem and that federal agencies have been notified about the breach that involved the two-factor authentication product (see DHS Responds to RSA SecurID Attack). DHS provided the government's reaction to the RSA breach because Homeland Security is responsible for operational responses to cyber incidents in civilian agencies and key private-sector IT systems, said Karen Evans, who served as the de facto federal chief information officer in the Bush White House. The White House, she said, is focused on cybersecurity strategy. (The NSA, a Defense Department agency, serves as the primary IT security agency for DoD and the intelligence community, while providing its technical expertise to civilian agencies through DHS. The NSA director also serves as commander of the U.S. Cyber Command.) [...] ___________________________________________________________ Tegatai Managed Colocation: Four Provider Blended Tier-1 Bandwidth, Fortinet Universal Threat Management, Natural Disaster Avoidance, Always-On Power Delivery Network, Cisco Switches, SAS 70 Type II Datacenter. Find peace of mind, Defend your Critical Infrastructure. http://www.tegataiphoenix.com/