Rival industry groups are bickering over access to cybersecurity briefings conducted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DHS’s Infrastructure Coordination Division (ICD) uses 14 information sharing and analysis centers (ISACs) as its exclusive conduits for downloading intelligence to industry groups relating to critical infrastructure protection. At hearings in the House Select Committee on Homeland Security last month, Dave McCurdy, executive director of the Internet Security Alliance (ISAlliance), expressed concern that companies affiliated with the ISAlliance are being denied access to US-CERT intelligence. The ICD recently established the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team based on a partnership with the CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) at Carnegie Mellon University. On Jan. 28, 2004, the US-CERT gave birth to the National Cyber Alert System, an operational system developed to deliver targeted, timely and actionable information to Americans to secure their computer systems. Such a system is paramount to the fight against cyberterrorism since alerts help security administrators and managers better arm their networks against intrusions. But over the past few years, a decentralized network of alerts — some tailored to general IT and some to specific verticals — has arisen. Full Story