The United States is well behind the curve in the fight against computer criminals, Sen. Joe Lieberman [said], 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.
U.S. officials have said that government computer systems are probed or scanned millions of times a day, and face an increasing threat from hackers, cyber criminals looking to steal money or information, and nation-states aimed at espionage or the destruction of networks that run vital services.
Officials have called for a more coordinated effort by the federal government to monitor and protect U.S. systems and work with the private sector to insure that transportation systems, energy plants and other sensitive networks are equally protected.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the ranking Republican on the homeland security panel, said it will take more than a White House coordinator to secure the country’s networks. And she pointed to the…