WASHINGTON -- What do a turtle, a member of Congress, and a former CEO have in common? They are all working to educate the American public about cybersecurity.
Consumers should install a strong spam blocker, use a firewall, regularly update their antivirus protection, and be careful when opening e-mail, agreed participants in a House subcommittee task force hearing Tuesday. But both the problem and the solution go beyond basic PC safety advice.
The Federal Trade Commission and National Cyber Security Division of the Department of Homeland Security are among the agencies teaming with industry to promote better understanding of cybersecurity.
Recruiting Reptiles
FTC mascot Dewie the e-Turtle visits schools and hosts a portion of the FTC's Web site designed to educate businesses and consumers about security, said commissioner Orson Swindle.
"The cyberturtle is very sophisticated," the commissioner joked at the hearing. "The FTC is concerned with consumer awareness and enhancing the consumers' welfare."
In fact, the information security section of the FTC Web site is among its most popular pages, according to Swindle. He said it has drawn more than 600,000 visits since its launch in August 2002.
Homeland Security's Role
The Department of Homeland Security regards cybersecurity as being among its duties, too.
The department's National Cyber Security Division promotes a notification system that alerts subscribers to potential computer-related threats, such as virulent viruses or pervasive software holes. NCSD operates the project in conjunction with Carnegie-Mellon University's Computer Emergency Readiness Team.
The department sent alerts to 2 million subscribers this week after identifying a cyberthreat, said Amit Yoran, director of NCSD. Working with Cisco Systems, the department used "plain language" to warn of vulnerabilities in some Cisco equipment and to explain how individuals and technology departments should protect themselves.
Yoran, former CEO of antivirus vendor Symantec, urged members of the Congressional subcommittee to encourage their constituents to sign up for the alerts. He also invited members to link from their Congressional home pages to the department's security information page.
Reporting on ongoing efforts and pushing for more initiatives, Yoran called for higher-education scholarships and federally funded programs to train more technology workers. He said that the Department of Homeland Security will continue to hire recent graduates of such programs, who will help develop protective cybertechnologies.
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