@Risk

Earlier this week, in keeping with the Obama administration’s renewed commitment to transparency, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt directed the release of a summary description of the largely classified Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative.

(This initiative, officially known as the National Security Presidential Directive 54 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive 23, was originally established by the Bush administration back in January 2008.)

The five-page declassified document outlines twelve major proposals designed to help secure the United States in cyberspace, and it’s significant that among this list of a dozen priorities there’s recognition of the growing risks associated with today’s complex global supply chains, particularly those in the commercial information and communications technology marketplace.

From the summary description: (more…)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has made progress in mitigating the threat of nuclear and radiological weapons in maritime cargo containers, but the agency needs to do more to address the threats posed by biological and chemical weapons, according to a new report from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.

The 19-page report, “CBP’s Ability to Detect Biological and Chemical Threats in Maritime Cargo Containers,” reviews current policy and initiatives, and it concludes that CBP should: (more…)

Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Information Technology Sector Coordinating Council (IT SCC) released the IT Sector Baseline Risk Assessment (ITSRA), a 114-page document that:

• identifies and prioritizes national-level risks to critical sector-wide IT functions

• outlines strategies to mitigate those risks and enhance national and economic security.

“Private sector owners and operators of this nation’s critical infrastructure manage risk on behalf of their customers and their internal operations every day, and the risk assessment validates the overall resiliency of that infrastructure.  Industry and government, however, need to understand the risk across the entire IT Sector,” says IT SCC Chairman Bob Dix. “This dynamic process and its tangible results provide an opportunity to collectively manage risk at the national level, and we are already working on applying the findings of the IT Sector Baseline Risk Assessment to better mitigate risk, making the IT sector and the nation more resilient and secure.”

(more…)