US One Step Closer To Electric Grid Cyberguards

coondoggie writes "The US Department of Energy this week officially opened up the bidding for a National Electric Sector Cyber Security Organization that would protect the nation's electrical grid from cyber attacks. According to the DOE, the agency has set an aggressive goal to meet the nation's need for a reliable, efficient, and resilient electric power grid, as well as improved accessibility to a variety of energy sources for generation. In order to achieve this, an independent organization is needed (PDF) to provide executive leadership to facilitate research, development, and deployment priorities; identify and disseminate best cybersecurity practices; organize the collection, analysis, monitoring, and dissemination of infrastructure vulnerabilities and threats; and enhance cybersecurity of the electric grid, including control and IT systems."

Comments

InfraGard

[cosm]

This seems similar to the InfraGard initiative, but standard operating procedure dictates our government must form another organization to oversee the preexisting organization that is involved the current organizations et al. Recursive agencies cost us money, and while I do advocate heavier infrastucture protection, hopefully this isn't just another bean-counting expenditure, but instead an operation that actually contributes to our infrastructure security.