Amid calls for stronger cyber security laws, the Department of Homeland Security is working on getting its threat-tracking system to work across its own operations and the Department of Defense. An October 24 memo from the Office of the Inspector General found that although the DHS can keep track of threats and provide updates on ongoing issues, “federal cyber operations center do not have a common incident management system tool that tracks, updates, shares, and coordinates cyber information with each other.”
According to The Verge, Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) is responsible for centralizing and coordinating cyber security operations across departments, agencies, companies and local governments. It uses a ticketing system that can record when incidents happen, as well as email and phone correspondents about the events, and it provides ongoing updates through alerts and bulletins. Those systems aren’t actually linked, however, which can delay sharing information or make it harder to coordinate responses.
The Office of the Inspector General proposed several recommendations, and Homeland Security has agreed to make them. A September memo says that some changes are already in progress, while others will require more funding.