US-CERT is charged with protecting our nation's Internet infrastructure by coordinating defense against and response to cyber attacks. US-CERT is responsible for

• analyzing and reducing cyber threats and vulnerabilities
• disseminating cyber threat warning information
• coordinating incident response activities

Information is available from the US-CERT web site, mailing lists, and RSS channels.

US-CERT also provides a way for citizens, businesses, and other institutions to communicate and coordinate directly with the United States government about cyber security.

• More About US-CERT
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1. Who runs US-CERT?
   US-CERT is the operational arm of the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is a public-private partnership.

2. Where is US-CERT located?
   US-CERT is located in the Washington DC Metropolitan area.

3. What is US-CERT's relationship to NCSD and DHS?
   US-CERT is the operational arm of the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The NCSD was established by DHS to serve as the federal government's cornerstone for cyber security coordination and preparedness, including implementation of the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace .

4. What is the relationship between US-CERT and other groups with "CERT" in their name?
   Worldwide, there are more than 250 organizations that use the name "CERT" or a similar name and deal with cyber security response. US-CERT is independent of these groups, though we may coordinate with them on security incidents. The first of these types of organizations is the CERT® Coordination Center (CERT/CC), established at Carnegie Mellon University in 1988. When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created US-CERT, it called upon the CERT/CC to contribute expertise for protecting the nation's information infrastructure by coordinating defense against and response to cyber attacks. Through US-CERT, DHS and the CERT/CC work jointly on these activities.

5. Who are US-CERT's partners?
   As it grows, US-CERT will include partnerships with private sector cyber security vendors, academia, federal agencies, Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs), state and local governments, and domestic and international organizations. Working together, these groups will coordinate national and international efforts to address key cyber security issues.

6. How does the Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Program work to protect submitted information?
   The PCII Program, established in response to the Critical Infrastructure Information Act of 2002 (CII Act), creates a new framework for protecting certain types of information. The PCII program enables members of the private sector to, for the first time, voluntarily submit confidential information regarding the nation's critical infrastructure to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with the assurance that the information will be protected from public disclosure. More details about how information can be protected under the CII Act can be found on the Department of Homeland Security web site.

Press Releases

Remarks by Cybersecurity and Communications Assistant Secretary Greg Garcia at the 2008 National Cyber Security Awareness Month Kick-Off Event
October 2, 2008

Fact Sheet: National Cyber Security Awareness Month
October 1, 2008

Remarks of Assistant Secretary of Cybersecurity and Communications Greg Garcia at the New York Metro Infragard Alliance Security Summit
December 11, 2007

FBI Announces Results of Bot Roast II
FBI's "Operation Bot Roast II" identifies and captures eight individuals responsible for infecting over 1 million compromised computers
November 29, 2007

Remarks of Cybersecurity and Communications Assistant Secretary Greg Garcia at the Dartmouth CIO/CISO Executive Workshop on Cyber Security
October 11, 2007

Remarks of Cybersecurity and Communications Assistant Secretary Greg Garcia at the National Cyber Security Awareness Month Kick-Off Summit
October 1, 2007

Remarks of Cybersecurity and Communications Assistant Secretary Greg Garcia at the 3rd Annual Government Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (GFIRST) Conference
June 26, 2007

Remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at the Northern Virginia Technology Council
March 15, 2007

Remarks by Assistant Secretary Gregory Garcia at the RSA Conference
February 8, 2007

Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on the Appointment of the Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security and Telecommunications
September 18, 2006

Homeland Security Hosts Multilateral Conference on Cyber Security
June 28, 2006

Press Archive

Webcasts

Webcast: Phishing Scams: How to Avoid Getting Hooked!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
2:00pm - 3:00pm (Eastern)

The Fifth Annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month is being celebrated during October 2008 as a collective effort among the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the National Cyber Security Division, and the National Cyber Security Alliance to raise cyber security awareness nationwide and empower citizens, businesses, government and schools to improve their cyber security preparedness and help promote a safe Internet experience.

The upcoming national webcast on Phishing is part of the 2008 National Cyber Security Awareness Month Campaign. "Please join us for this free event!

For more information about National Cyber Security Awareness Month, visit the MS-ISAC at: www.msisac.org.