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DOJ Staffer Tapped to Head US-CERT

The Department of Homeland Security has named Mischel Kwon as head of US-CERT.

By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)

June 18, 2008 —

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has chosen a new head of its U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT).

Mischel Kwon, will start as director of US-CERT on June 24, a DHS spokeswoman said Thursday. She is presently acting deputy director of IT security and the chief IT security technologist at the U.S. Department of Justice. She is also an adjunct professor at The George Washington University, where she runs the school's Cyber Defense Lab.

She replaces Mike Witt and will report to Cornelius Tate, director of the DHS's National Cyber Security Division.

Founded in 2003, US-CERT coordinates the nation's response to computer attacks. The group works with both government and private industry to gather and disseminate information about the latest cyber-threats, but it has come under criticism from the private sector for being too secretive.

Kwon's main challenge will be to navigate the government bureaucracy at DHS while at the same time building trust within the private sector, said Marcus Sachs, director of the SANS Internet Storm Center, a volunteer effort that also provides information on the latest security threats.

Sachs said that Kwon is a good choice for the job. "She understands the policy side as well as the technical side," he said. "She already has a lot of credibility, now she has to solidify those trust relationships."

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