At 01:02 PM 11/18/2002 -0500, Declan McCullagh wrote:
I'd have to disagree with the assertion that this is "the nation's clearinghouse".http://news.com.com/2010-1069-966164.htmlPerspective: Say hello to Big Brother By Declan McCullagh November 18, 2002, 7:05 AM PT WASHINGTON--Like it or not, the proposed Department of Homeland Security firmly establishes Washington's central role in computer and network security. When approved by Congress, perhaps as early as Monday, the massive new bureaucracy will become--among other things--the nation's clearinghouse for developing plans to prevent electronic attacks, thwart them when they occur and release advisories to the public.
The Federal government's internal-use clearinghouse maybe.
Maybe it'll also release advisories about real attacks, scare stories
about potential attacks, and other information that doesn't interfere with
the Feds' own crackers or convicted felon John Poindexter's agency,
but it doesn't sound like they're absorbing CERT, which does real work,
or the Bugtraq mailing list, or Internet Security Systems Inc.,
or the security announcements from ISC or the Linux vendors,
or Microsoft's security announcements, or the anti-virus companies,
or the other resources that we use out here in the real world.
On the other hand, those resources don't work for the nation;
they work for the world.