DHS Secretary Napolitano Talks Cybersecurity At ASIS

For the second straight year, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, addressed a session at ASIS. And on Monday, she stressed the importance of public and private partnerships to address another growing threat to the country.

"On the eve of the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I'm here to discuss another serious and rapidly evolving threat – cybersecurity," Napolitano said.

She stressed that cyberattacks do have real-life consequences. According to a recent study by Norton, the global cost of cybercrime is $114 billion annually. Add in lost time because of the attacks, and that number balloons to more than $400 billion.

And Napolitano said a strong partnership between the public and private sectors are key to battle cyber threats now instead of waiting for years to come. She called for private companies to develop a private sector baseline for the protection of core infrastructure.

The secretary also highlighted what DHS is doing to help protect cyber assets. For example, last year, DHS' U.S. CERT responded to more than 106,000 incident reports while releasing more than 5,000 actionable cybersecurity alerts to public and private sector partners.

"Protecting critical infrastructure and cyberspace – including the systems and networks that support the financial services, energy and defense industries – requires all of us working together," said Napolitano. "From government and law enforcement to the private sector and members of the public, everyone has a role to play in protecting against cyber threats."

About the Author

Brent Dirks is senior editor for Security Today and Campus Security Today magazines.

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