The criticism comes as an appropriations bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives is set to be considered by the Senate this month. A separate act that would establish the position of Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity was added to the spending bill as an amendment. The position would replace the current head of the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), which was created two years ago to head the agency's efforts to analyze and respond to cybersecurity threats.

However, in a report released last week, the U.S. General Accounting Office took the Department of Homeland Security to task, arguing that the federal agency has made progress toward, but not fulfilled, any of its 13 cybersecurity responsibilities. More clout for the chief cybersecurity officer within the DHS could help the situation but will not solve the problems, said David Powner, director of information technology management issues at the GAO and the lead author of the report.

"Creating an assistant secretary position will clearly be helpful, but it won't be a silver bullet," Powner said. "Just elevating that position does not solve some of the DHS's challenges."

Read this full article at SecurityFocus

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