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

• Department of Homeland Security
• United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT)
• Department of Defense Computer Emergency Response Team
• US DOE Computer Incident Advisory Capability
• Federal Computer Incident Response Center
• Department of Justice

National Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISAC's)

• Aviation ISAC (Airports Council International—North America)
• Chemical ISAC (American Chemistry Council)
• Electric Power ISAC (North American Electric Reliability Council)
• Emergency Fire Services (US Fire Administration, Federal Emergency Management Association)
• Energy (Oil and Gas) ISAC (National Petroleum Council)
• Financial Services ISAC
• Food ISAC (Food Marketing Institute)
• Information Technology ISAC (Information Technology Association of America)
• Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC)
• Surface Transportation ISAC (Association of American Railroads)
• Telecommunications ISAC (National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications [NCC])
• Truck ISAC (American Trucking Associations)
• Water ISAC (Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies)

Other Security Advisories and Resources

• The Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security
• CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC)
• Center for Internet Security
• Computer Security Institute
• Dartmouth Institute for Security Technology Studies News Feed
• Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams
• Global Council of CSOs
• Institute for Technology Security Studies
• Internet Storm Center
• IWS - The Information Warfare Site
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - Computer Security Resource Center
• The Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC) Cyber Security Preventive and Recovery Practices
• SANS Information Security Knowledgebase
• Securely Speaking
• Security Focus - News, advisories, vulnerabilities and library

Vendor Security Advisories

• Apache Security Reports
• CISCO Product Security Advisories
• HP Security Home
• IBM Security Solutions
• Microsoft Security & Privacy Home
• Netscape Security Center
• Netscreen Security Alerts
• RedHat Linux Alerts & Advisories
• Symantec Security Response
• SUN Alert Notifications

Virus Warnings

• Hoax Busters
• McAfee Virus Information Library
• Norman Antivirus Warnings
• Sophos Virus Info
• Symantec Anti-virus Center
• Trend Micro Virus Information