DHS to open new cyber operations center

During a roundtable at RSA Conference Europe last week, Philip Reitinger, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Under Secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate announced (among other things) that the the government is taking the individual operational centers that have cyber responsibilities and co-locating them so that they can work together as effectively as possible.

“In the near future, we plan on co-locating US CERT, the National Coordinating Center and the National Cyber Security Center,” said Reitinger.

This future seems to be pretty near, because DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano is scheduled to officially open a new operation center that will house the three institutions. DHS spokeswoman, Amy Kudwa stressed that their moving in together doesn’t mean the centers will merge.

US-CERT is a collaborative effort of the DHS and the public and private sectors, intended to coordinate the response to security threats from the Internet. The NCC tracks threats to telecom systems and is charged with coordinating its restoration if an attack should happen. The NCSC protects the U.S. Government’s communications networks.