Friday, November 24, 2006

U.K. and US Security Sites

A special friend told me about NISCC - the UK's "National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre." He was correct when he told me that it is "a veritable goldmine of information and should be bookmarked by anyone who has an interest in Computer Security, especially as it carries all the Microsoft security briefings."

Better than just the Microsoft security briefings, NISCC also includes security briefings and alerts from multiple vendors, all consolidated in a nice package by date on the Briefings page:

"Briefings contain general information such as details of software vulnerabilities and patches.

Briefings are compiled from a number of sources including the Internet, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), associated Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) but more importantly the NISCC community itself. This gives us the ability to provide timely information concerning potential IT security problems that could affect the CNI.

Like many other CERTs, UNIRAS often redistributes computer security briefings authored by other CERTs, vendors and other groups concerned about IT security. For the best information about protecting your system it is recommended that you take account of security information from a variety of sources." {emphasis added}

It was that last sentence that got me wondering what kind of information is available in New York, my home state. That search led me to Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination (CSCIC), which was established in September 2002 to address New York State's cyber security readiness and critical infrastructure coordination. I did not find a lot of information on New York State's "cyber security readiness and critical infrastructure coordination" but did locate a number of valuable resources, reproduced below for quick reference.

Parents are encouraged to check "Protecting our Children on the Internet". There are numerous links to sites with information for parents as well as pages with safety instructions for young children and teens.

References from CSCIC:

Government Security Sites National Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISAC's) Other Security Advisories and Resources Vendor Security Advisories Virus Warnings

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