Bush Order Expands Computer Network Monitoring

Emergency.com ^ | 1/24/08

[Sammy67]

Bush Order Expands Network Monitoring Intelligence Agencies to Track Intrusions

By Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post Staff Writer

WASHINGTON, DC: President Bush signed a directive this month that expands the intelligence community's role in monitoring Internet traffic to protect against a rising number of attacks on federal agencies' computer systems.

The directive, whose content is classified, authorizes the intelligence agencies, in particular the National Security Agency, to monitor the computer networks of all federal agencies -- including ones they have not previously monitored.

Until now, the government's efforts to protect itself from cyber-attacks -- which run the gamut from hackers to organized crime to foreign governments trying to steal sensitive data -- have been piecemeal. Under the new initiative, a task force headed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) will coordinate efforts to identify the source of cyber-attacks against government computer systems. As part of that effort, the Department of Homeland Security will work to protect the systems and the Pentagon will devise strategies for counterattacks against the intruders.

[Freee-dame]

bump

[Citizen Tom Paine]

I hope that this is aimed at the ChiCom’s (and others) efforts to hack into the DOD and other Government computer networks.

[NoCountryForLiberals]

Its a vital part of our intrastructure and it needs to be protected. I think the really important government net traffic goes over secure networks not the public internet.

[Dilbert56]

What an outrageously misleading headline. The government is monitoring it own computers to defend them against attack. The headling makes it sound like a privacy intrusion.