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Maintaining the Global Communications Infrastructure

The U.S. public network increasingly is interconnected with worldwide networks, a phenomenon that brings with it inherent risks and increased vulnerabilities. The many forms of communications services in use today dictate more complex incident management needs. The NSTAC addressed several aspects of the global infrastructure and cooperation approach.

• Satellites. As technology advances, the satellite infrastructure has become a key component for data, voice, and video communications and services; consequently, its susceptibility to threats, intentional or inadvertent, could jeopardize the reliability of these services. As a result, the NSTAC reviewed and assessed policies, practices, and procedures for the application of infrastructure protection measures to commercial satellite communications networks used for NS/EP communications. Further, the NSTAC recently initiated a study of the commercial communications infrastructure’s dependence on the satellite-based global positioning system (GPS) and the implications of a loss of GPS to that infrastructure.
  
  
• Identity Management. The NSTAC provided an analysis of NS/EP challenges associated with the migration from circuit-switched networks to packet-switched next generation networks (NGN). The committee developed key recommendations essential to assuring NS/EP communications in this evolving network environment, which included recommending that the Federal Government build an effective identity management framework for the NGN. The NSTAC has extended its examination of identity management issues and plans to address the subject as it relates to NS/EP at the 2008 Research and Development Exchange Workshop.
  
  
• International Incident Management. The policies and organizational mechanisms that address operational security risks and incident management in the global network community are essential components to ensuring network access and remediation during system disruptions. These policy and operational issue areas are particularly critical in light of expanding Government-initiated collaboration with key allies and global trading partners and the international nature of the network, provider, and threat environment surrounding cyber incidents. The NSTAC recently examined the existing international policy environment and incident response capabilities and made recommendations to the President intending to promote U.S. NS/EP interests in emerging international incident management efforts.

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