NIPC seeks cyberalert support

NIPC

The National Infrastructure Protection Center this week issued a request for quotations to get contractor support for its Analysis and Warning Section — the group that provides cybersecurity alerts and advice to the public and private sectors.

The statement of work outlines several requirements the NIPC is looking for a contractor to fill, including:

* Supporting the center's ability to identify and predict security threats and trends.

* Performing analysis and assessment of threat information.

* Providing historical incident data.

* Distributing the information to partners and the general public.

The General Accounting Office and many outside organizations have criticized the NIPC for its slow response time to potential and immediate threats. During the past year, the center has formed many partnerships with information-sharing organizations created in the public and private sectors.

The NIPC resides within the FBI, and although it is an interagency group, it is staffed mainly by FBI agents and personnel. Under a Bush administration proposal, the center will become part of the proposed Homeland Security Department's information analysis and infrastructure protection function.

The General Services Administration's Federal Computer Incident Response Center is another group that would move into that function. FedCIRC provides analysis and warnings specifically for federal civilian agencies and last year signed a support contract with Global Integrity, a security services provider.