The US has officially opened a state-of-the-art unified
command centre for government cyber security in Arlington,
Virginia.
The opening of the
National
Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC)
marked the culmination of
National
Cybersecurity Awareness month in the US.
The NCCIC is aimed at improving US national efforts to respond
to threats and incidents affecting critical information technology
and communications infrastructure.
US Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano said the NCCIC
will serve as the "central repository" for the cyber protection
efforts of the civilian side of the federal government and its
private sector partners.
"Consolidating our cyber and communications operations centers
within the NCCIC will enhance our ability to effectively mitigate
risks and respond to threats," she said.
The NCCIC combines the public-private
US Computer Emergency Readiness
Team and the National
Coordinating Center for Telecommunications.
The NCCIC will also integrate the National Cybersecurity Center
(NCSC), which co-ordinates operations among the six largest federal
cyber centers.
Despite the consolidation, there is still no single agency in
charge of government cybersecurity or national cybersecurity
advisor or cyber czar reporting directly to the president.
Shortly after taking office, president Barack Obama
said cybersecurity was a top priority and announced in May that
he would appoint a cyber czar.
Although the US president has not yet named the cyber czar, the
2010 Homeland Security Act that he signed last week included $397m
for cybersecurity.