Wait, and Uncle Sam will do it for you...

Sept. 18, 2007
While many industrial sectors dither about protection of critical infrastructure, the Federal Government is busy setting forth standards for those sectors to meet. Currently these standards are voluntary, but insiders continue to say that if voluntary compliance is not forthcoming, the standard means of governmental coersion will be used to force compliance.
While many industrial sectors dither about protection of critical infrastructure, the Federal Government is busy setting forth standards for those sectors to meet. Currently these standards are voluntary, but insiders continue to say that if voluntary compliance is not forthcoming, the standard means of governmental coersion will be used to force compliance. You can read the web-page on these standards here. Note that some of them are restricted on a need-to-know basis, which, as a journalist, I do not have by definition. The problem, of course, is that very few people that the DHS has working on these plans have direct experience in automation systems. Marty Edwards, of INEL, is a shining exception, as are a couple of others. But mostly, DHS' experience in working on plant level security is lacking. So if you are an end user in a critical infrastructure industry, why don't you do something about this? Get your plans into shape before your friendly Uncle Samuel tells you how to do your job.