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Posted on March 27th, 2012 in Current News, Internet Safety by Simply Security | Be the first to comment | Tags: Internet Safety

The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence could be the first major test of the public-private partnership model.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced a new partnership with state and local officials that will see the creation of a National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The project will form the cornerstone of the federal government's recent emphasis on public-private collaboration on matters of cybersecurity. By facilitating an open exchange of information, officials hope to accelerate the adoption of innovative network defense tools and their associated best practices.

"We're standing up for the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence to protect America's ideas and innovation from cyber terrorists, spies and thieves," Senator Barbara Mikulski explained. "This center will unite the knowledge of the government with the know-how of the private sector to improve our nation's cybersecurity and create jobs."

The center is expected to serve as an incubator of sorts, in which federal employees and cybersecurity experts will develop and refine use cases for both IT vendors and the general public. Research findings will then be proactively distributed throughout the domestic information security community. If operations go as planned, the NIST has suggested that the acceleration of innovation could prove to be a valuable means of not only bolstering corporate data security, but restoring consumer confidence in both e-government and ecommerce initiatives.

"Cybercrime hurts individuals, businesses and government agencies. We want to bring together the best minds to provide them with the best tools to create and test solutions that will make online transactions of all kinds safer," noted NIST director Patrick Gallagher. "We're pleased to have the support of our Maryland partners, and look forward to working with the additional partners from industry, academia, nonprofit and government sectors."

As NextGov columnist Aliya Sternstein recently asserted, this focus on integration is well-timed. As technology users access information from a wider variety of endpoints, it only makes sense to develop comprehensive data security solutions that can govern activity across both desktop and mobile platforms. On a similar note, the current data protection strategies employed by even top-level agencies can at times seem like a patchwork of disparate solutions.

"A common problem with computer security systems is they aren't really systems, but rather piecemeal antivirus tools and disjointed security measures that fail to considers all threats," Sternstein said. "The idea is that by bringing together product users and developers, both sides of the pipeline can better identify security holes."

While the establishment of the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence is certainly a significant step in the right direction, officials acknowledge that progress will not happen overnight. NIST and local leaders are planning well into the future, however, to ensure that discoveries made in the coming months and years find their way into the hands of the qualified IT leaders of tomorrow.

Given its close proximity to the nation's capital, it should come as no surprise that Maryland has been on the cutting edge of Internet security training and education.

"Maryland has made great strides in preparing a workforce that's ready for cyber and IT jobs," Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown told reporters. "With our focus of K-12 STEM education, cybersecurity specialties in higher education and the presence of U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Maryland, is uniquely poised to contribute to the rapidly growing growing cybersecurity industry."

Local technology innovators will have the chance to test their mettle and build upon their skills early next month as federal agencies come together to host the U.S. Cyber Challenge in Washington, D.C. The event is scheduled to feature a variety of in-depth workshops and promote open communication between industry professionals and government IT decision-makers that could have important implications for future standard-setting procedures.

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