[ISN] More money and staff a must for DHS to take lead role for cybersecurity

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090513_8393.php

By Jill R. Aitoro 
NextGov.com
05/13/2009

The Homeland Security Department needs more money and employees to 
support a planned increase in responsibility for governmentwide 
cybersecurity, leading some security specialists to speculate that the 
National Security Agency will continue to play a large role in federal 
cyber operations.

DHS will gradually take on a bigger role in securing civilian computer 
networks against cyberattacks, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. 
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the department "will 
become, in effect, the non-DoD locus for cybersecurity." Administration 
officials said DHS will receive increases in funding and personnel to 
support the increase in work, according to the article, which was 
removed from the Washingtonpost.com Web site on Wednesday.

Homeland Security is capable of leading the cybersecurity effort for 
civilian agencies only if it receives proper funding and staff, security 
professionals said. "DHS is probably the best place to secure the 
dot-gov networks, but it needs resources and people to do the job," said 
James Lewis, director of the technology and public policy program at the 
Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Right now, they have 
about a third of what they need. If this is a serious effort, it has to 
be fully supported."

In President Obama's fiscal 2010 budget request released on May 7, DHS 
asked for $918 million to support the Office of Infrastructure 
Protection, which coordinates efforts with industry to protect the 
nation's critical industries, including transportation and energy 
systems and the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications

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