Security regs unlikely

A top official in the Bush administration said the federal government has no plans to issue regulations to dictate the way state and local governments provide security for information systems.

Instead, the administration will stick with a collaborative approach, said Howard Schmidt, vice chairman of the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers conference in early April.

The national cybersecurity strategy plan will be unveiled in July, he said. The plan will include input from professional organizations, the private sector, federal agencies and state and local governments. Each of these "will have a separate section in the strategy" outlining their positions, he said.

The strategy will include modules that can be updated when there are significant leaps in key technologies, such as wireless communications, he said.