For you emergency managers out there, this is not just an IT issue. As we know from our Y2K preparations there is a great deal of automation that runs our nation's critical infrastructure. Then there is also the interdependence's between critical infrastructures that gives us pause for all the ways things can go wrong.
We have put a great deal of time and effort into physical security and counter-terrorism, but how much of that has impacted cour cyber readiness? As I've written about previously, this is not just an issue that impacts others--as we automate our EOCs and response procedures the function of emergency management will also be a risk during an attack.
Is a cyber security Czar going to make us any safer? The good thing I see about it is that you will have an official with the clout of the President behind him or her to knock heads when people and organizations are not cooperating with one another, and new cyber turf wars erupt within the various levels of government.
During TOPOFF 2 there was a little known cyber exercise that happened before the main event. It was held at the Washington State EOC and it had representatives from local government, state government, private sector, and the education system participating in a "hands on" practice session for stopping or minimizing what a cyber attack wold accomplish.
