Security is always important, but there is also security’s dirty secret: It generally becomes a priority only after a security incident.
There are many reasons for that. One is that the job of security is never done. There is always more to do. Another is that security is often seen as a hindrance to getting one’s job done. Yet most people understand that in our increasingly interconnected and networked world, security must be one of our priority concerns.
For the past few years, security has been locked into that important-but-not-top-priority status. Yet throughout 2007, security seems to have been climbing on the priority list.
For months, there have been talks about creating a governmentwide standard desktop PC configuration. The purpose is ensuring basic PC security.
Then, too, there are the ongoing initiatives for Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 and IPv6.
But in recent weeks, the Bush administration has asked Congress to immediately move $152 million into cybersecurity programs for fiscal 2008. Late last month, the administration also promoted Marie O’Neill Sciarrone to special assistant to the president for homeland security and senior director of cybersecurity and information-sharing policy.
And, in recent weeks, the Office of Management and Budget has been talking about the Trusted Internet Connections initiative, a move to reduce the number of government connections to the Internet.
Agencies’ mandatory use of the Homeland Security Department’s Einstein program, which Federal Computer Week profiled in May,would be part of that plan.
Einstein gives agencies the ability to monitor their Internet gateways in real time and helps them react more quickly to security incidents.
Recently, we have also seen renewed efforts to focus on critical infrastructures. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week proposed requiring energy companies to provide much more detailed reports on the security of their systems and on their mitigation efforts.
After all, everyone needs power to get their job done.
So is security becoming priority No. 1? Probably not.
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