Timing is everything
Reacting to the delay in warnings about the "love bug," the CIO Council
is working on a system to warn agencies about cyberattacks.
Below is the time line of alerts during the initial hours of the "love
bug" on May 4, as determined by the General Accounting Office.
5:45 a.m. — Industry notifies the NIPC of the virus.
6:40 a.m. — The JTF-CND is first told of the virus. After an hour of
analysis, the JTF-CND begins notifying various DOD components.
7:45 a.m. — After two hours to analyze the virus and get confirmation
of its effect from the JTF-CND, NIPC notifies FedCIRC of the virus.
8 a.m. — FedCIRC begins notifying senior agency officials by phone and
fax.
11 a.m. — NIPC posts an official alert on its Web site about the ILOVEYOU
virus.