Government forms cybersecurity unit

The Department of Homeland Security on Friday said it created a new division to address threats to the nation's technological infrastructure.

Called the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), the 60-person unit is charged with addressing potential security breaches to private-sector and government computer systems. The division was created as part of President George W. Bush's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace and the Homeland Security Act of 2002, and it will be run under the Department's Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate.

"Most businesses in this country are unable to segregate the cyberoperations from the physical aspects of their business because they operate interdependently," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said in a statement.

"This new division will be focused on the vitally important task of protecting the nation's cyberassets so that we may best protect the nation's critical infrastructure assets," he added.

NCSD's chief will be Robert Liscouski, the assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Infrastructure Protection. The division will be organized into three units to: identify risks and reduce vulnerabilities to government and private-sector computer systems; operate a Cyber Security Tracking, Analysis & Response Center to detect attacks to the Internet and alert the public; and develop education programs on security measures.

News source: CNET News - Government forms cybersecurity unit