Cybersecurity: Continued Federal Efforts are Needed to Protect Critical Systems and Information

Federal laws and policy have assigned important roles and responsibilities to the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Nat. Inst. of Standards and Tech. (NIST) for securing computer networks and systems. DHS is charged with coordinating the protection of computer-reliant critical infrastructure -- much of which is owned by the private sector -- and securing its own computer systems, while NIST is responsible for developing standards and guidelines for implementing security controls over information and information systems. This report describes cybersecurity efforts at DHS and NIST -- including partnership activities with the private sector -- and the use of cybersecurity performance metrics in the fed. gov¿t. Table and graphs.