[ISN] DOJ staffer tapped to head US-CERT

From: InfoSec News (alerts@private)
Date: Thu Jun 05 2008 - 22:29:37 PDT


http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/060508-doj-staffer-tapped-to-head.html

By Robert McMillan
IDG News Service
06/05/2008

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has chosen a new head of its 
U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT).

Mischel Kwon, will start as director of US-CERT on June 24, a DHS 
spokeswoman said Thursday. She is presently acting deputy director of IT 
security and the chief IT security technologist at the U.S. Department 
of Justice. She is also an adjunct professor at The George Washington 
University, where she runs the school's Cyber Defense Lab.

She replaces Cheri McGuire, who left in March, and will report to 
Cornelius Tate, director of the DHS's National Cyber Security Division.

Founded in 2003, US-CERT coordinates the nation's response to computer 
attacks. The group works with both government and private industry to 
gather and disseminate information about the latest cyber-threats, but 
it has come under criticism from the private sector for being too 
secretive.

Kwon's main challenge will be to navigate the government bureaucracy at 
DHS while at the same time building trust within the private sector, 
said Marcus Sachs, director of the SANS Internet Storm Center, a 
volunteer effort that also provides information on the latest security 
threats.

Sachs said that Kwon is a good choice for the job. "She understands the 
policy side as well as the technical side," he said. "She already has a 
lot of credibility, now she has to solidify those trust relationships."

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