Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Tom Ridge announced Friday the agency has created the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) to combat Internet-based attacks against government and critical private sector backbone networks. The new department will be under the DHS' Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate (IAIP), which reports directly to Ridge. Robert Liscouski, the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Infrastructure Protection, will oversee NCSD while it seeks a permanent director, who will essentially be the nation's cyber czar. The new department aims to respond to major incidents, aid in national level recovery efforts, issue alerts and warnings, and conduct ongoing cyberspace analysis. From a similar Washington Post article: The division will have three sections. One will identify cybersecurity risks to the government, and coordinate with the private sector on how to minimize them. Another will oversee the Cyber Security Tracking, Analysis & Response Center. CSTARC, as the department labeled it, will respond to Internet "events," track vulnerabilities and coordinate with federal, state and local governments, as well as the private sector and international security groups. The third section will create cybersecurity education programs for consumers, businesses, governments, academia and the international community. We can only hope that the "educational" programs are as much fun as the bio-defense cartoons. Now Open: National Cyber Security Division | 
