NASCIO president: State cybersecurity center in doubt

The plan for a national information sharing and analysis center to support cybersecurity at the state government level has not yet materialized, despite hopes that it would be ready soon.


Rock Regan, president of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers and Connecticut CIO, said May 23 that the group remains determined to establish such a center and may issue a request for proposal soon.


"There are still a lot of unknowns. We don't know if it is doable or not," Regan said.


Chris Dixon, NASICO's digital government coordinator, said the principal matters to be addressed before the project can move forward concern funding and whether information provided by the states to the federal government would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.


Dixon said the organization is confident it can secure adequate funding, but the funds might come from multiple sources, depending on the amount required. These sources might include federal and state funding as well other public and private funding, he said.


Aldona Valicente, a NASCIO past president and Kentucky CIO, said the federal government has encouraged the states to proceed with the project.


An information sharing and analysis center would record and report security breaches across state IT enterprises, provide early warnings to other states of network breaches, offer patches to fix violated systems and act as a clearinghouse for sharing best practices among states.