NIPC Daily Report 21 June 2002 The NIPC Watch and Warning Unit compiles this report to inform recipients of issues impacting the integrity and capability of the nation's critical infrastructures.
Private sector urged to shore up networks. On 18 June the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board hosted a town hall meeting to urge private-sector owners and operators of the nation's critical infrastructures to join the federal government in protecting the nation from a devastating cyber attack. In addition to building private sector buy-in for the effort, the board plans to incorporate suggestions from this series of meetings for a "National Strategy for Securing Cyberspace" that the administration is expected to publish in the coming weeks. Administration officials are concerned that state-sponsored terrorist attacks against the country's critical infrastructures could be devastating and want to be prepared with a private sector partnership. Critical infrastructure protection efforts have focused on voluntary cooperation programs such as InfraGard, which is designed to allow businesses to share information with the FBI without worrying that their company will be hurt by negative publicity. The government then compares this data with other information to determine if an organized attack is underway. (Info World, 17 June) Dartmouth institute examines preparedness for investigating cyber attacks. A report released this week by researchers at Dartmouth's Institute for Security Technology Studies (ISTS) examines the state of investigative tools needed by law enforcement officials who fight cyber crime. The report, titled "Law Enforcement Tools and Technologies for Investigating Cyber Attacks: A National Needs Assessment," details the technology hurdles faced by cyber crime investigators and outlines a wish list of tools and technologies required to do the job better. The report is available on the Internet at www.ists.dartmouth.edu, and it is primarily intended for law enforcement officials at all levels of government. "This report is the first step toward establishing a national research and development agenda on combating cyber attacks," says Michael Vatis, Director of ISTS. Dartmouth's Institute for Security Technology Studies (ISTS) serves as a national center for counter-terrorism and cyber security technology research, development and assessment. It is funded in part through the US Justice Department's National Institute of Justice, Office of Science and Technology, and the US Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology. (Dartmouth News Release, 18 June). Strike by air traffic ontrollers disrupts Europe. Air traffic controllers in five European countries walked off the job forcing airlines to cancel most flights in France and disrupting air travel in much of the rest of the Continent as well. Unions called for the strike in France, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Hungary to protest plans by the European Union to restructure the way that air corridors are operated. It was the third such strike since last year. (International Herald Tribune, 20 June) FAA controller turnover concern. Thousands of air traffic controllers hired after the 1981 strike are getting ready to retire, and the Federal Aviation Administration isn't preparing for replacements according to a General Accounting Office (GAO) report. The GAO said almost 70 percent of the current 20,000 controllers and supervisors will be eligible to retire by September 2011. (Columbian, 18 June) WWU Comment: The two previous articles highlight the severity of an air traffic control disruption. European issues of this sort can directly affect US air carriers. Strikes may continue as the European Union pushes ahead with economic reform. IWS INFOCON Mailing List @ IWS - The Information Warfare Site http://www.iwar.org.uk
