FedNet: White House, Homeland Security Build Own Internet

Putting into place a plan to secure America's critical networks, the White House and the Homeland Security Department are moving to develop a private, compartmentalized computer communication network for use by federal agencies and private-sector experts to share information during large-scale security threats, eWeek has reported.

It's part of the new Cyber Warning Information Network (CWIN), a group that includes the National Infrastructure Protection Center, the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, and other operations with a share of responsibility for federal systems security, eWeek said. The government announced the new network at last week's National Information Assurance Leadership conference.

The CWIN is designed to use a secure, private network separate from the public Internet, with seven nodes running now, according to Office of Cyberspace Security communications infrastructure director Marcus Sachs. He told the conference the Sendmail transfer agent package was an example of how these and similar backchannel communications protect end users.

When the Sendmail vulnerability was exposed in mid-February, Internet Security Systems researchers tipped off the White House and Homeland Security, with the government passing the word quietly through backchannels to affected vendors, until the breach was patched for critical government, military, and private-sector machines before the breach was announced publicly, Sachs told the conference.

But some told the conference they'd wait until CWIN is online and proven before they're ready to trust it. "I would not have used CWIN for Sendmail," ISS threat intelligence manager Pete Allor said. "I'd like to know who I'm transmitting information to and the rules for dissemination. My two biggest concerns are having private-sector information on a government network and if Congress withdraws the [Freedom of Information Act] exemption, there won't be any reason for private companies to use [CWIN]."

No legislation to remove the FOIA exemption in the Homeland Security Act has yet been introduced on Capitol Hill, eWeek said.