Outcome of Cyber Storm II: I Hope This Is Not News

It's a good thing to hear DHS folks say this, but I certainly hope they're not realizing it for the first time:

Forming relationships ahead of time is key to cooperation during a cyber attack, said Greg Garcia, assistant secretary for cyber security and communications at the Department of Homeland Security, during a town hall meeting at the RSA Security Conference on Cyber Storm II. Cyber Storm II was a huge exercise in protecting the nation's IT infrastructure held last month.

The relationships built up over the 18 months of planning for Cyber Storm II "will last well beyond the one week of the exercise" and will result in better responses and improve our defense capabilities, he added.

The cooperation of industry was, and will be, "critical" when we are under cyber attack, Garcia said.

Another lesson the DHS learned was that social networking is essential well before any threat occurs.

Yes, yes, and yes.

Not just for a cyber attack, though. For any type of disaster - accidental, natural, or intentional.

Protection and restoration of critical resources is not a matter of "your business" plus "my business." It's our business.