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Napolitano calls for cybersecurity partnership

Importance goes beyond the Internet, DHS head says

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today stressed the need for shared responsibility and strategic partnerships to secure cyberspace.

“This has got to be a team effort,” Napolitano said at a cybersecurity symposium held in Washington. “No one agency can do it alone. Cybersecurity is about effective partnerships and shared security.”

She said a layered approach to security and partnerships is the key to cybersecurity, rather than a top-down or government-down approach. She added that cybersecurity has ramifications that go beyond the Internet.

“The Obama administration is committed to working closely with our partners across government and in the private sector to achieve a cyberspace that is safe and resilient and that remains a source of opportunity and growth,” Napolitano said.

The Homeland Security and Defense departments are working together to combat cyberattacks, she said, and pointed to an agreement she signed with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in October to align their capabilities to protect military and civilian networks.

“For the first time ever, there are individuals stationed at [the National Security Agency] for particular protections in a civilian context and to tap into those incredible capabilities,” Napolitano said.

“We need colleges and universities to make cybersecurity a multidisciplinary pursuit,” she added.

Napolitano also called on the government to continue working to secure federal civilian networks and help the private sector secure the cyber infrastructure.

About the Author

Amber Corrin is a staff writer covering defense and national security. Connect with her on Twitter: @AmberInsideDOD.

Reader comments

Fri, Jan 7, 2011

A good defense in depth approach for any organization can discourage most adversaries... You want to fight terrorism and secure the internet... build solar panels and break our dependency on oil...it's going to happen sooner or later. We need to start localizing our communities but i understand that we must go through much, much more hardship before our society wakes up in order to make the paradigm shift ...

Tue, Dec 21, 2010 Jeffrey A. Williams

Sec. Napolitano's idea is of course a good one as it is very similar to the previous administrations initive directed to DHS by then president Bush. Still it seems that within DHS and from outside in the private sector there are significant differences of opinion as to how this relationship is to be consumated and then effected as well as what technologies to be used as standards without dampening inovation. DNSSEC for example is a multilevel approach to improving overall infrastructure security that it procedural based in many respects. This leaves alot of room for differences in procedure that may make some critical infrastructure government service companies non-interoperable unless hard a fast procedural standards are articulated clearly anc concisely, which is now being mainly driven by NIST.

Fri, Dec 17, 2010 Private Sector Infrastructure East Coast

Secretary Napolitano is undoubtedly sincere in her stated intentions, but she will have to fight the DHS bureaucracy to achieve them. For years, DHS has said all the right words about sharing information with the private sector, but its record in that area is dismal. Mid-level functionaries in NPPD, including a few who were advanced (as cronies of political appointees in the last administration) to SES without adequate skills/experience, seek reasons to block useful communication in protecting critical infrastructure. It's unclear if they simply don't know how to get things done or if they intentionally choose inaction as the low-risk approach for continuing their careers. In any case, the Secretary will have to clean house if she wants to be heard and obeyed. The record in this area speaks for itself.

Fri, Dec 17, 2010

When will our nation learn that politicians from Arizona are not good for the nation as a whole.

Fri, Dec 17, 2010

What a complete load of hot air, repeating buzz words, and lacking any substance.

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