The White House has exhibited (open to public) elements of a top secret plan describing how government will protect the nation’s computer networks from cyber warfare.
The statement by cybersecurity Tsar Howard Schmidt was expressed at the world’s biggest security event. The action is intended to encourage better co-operation between academia, government and the private sector.
There are 12 elements to the CNCI (Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative), along with cyber counterintelligence and deterrence strategies. For the first time the government has announced a general description about them on its website.
The intention of the program is threefold:
- to build a front line of defense against today’s existing threats
- to protect against the full range of threats
- to set up the future cybersecurity environment
The CNCI finances a number of sensitive projects which includes the government’s Einstein technology, that focuses on accessing the huge computer network which functions under the ‘.gov’ domain, and also in detecting attacks to access those systems. Elements of the resource which deal with the nation’s offensive plans for cyberwarfare is not made public.