DHS completes draft of plan on how to respond to a national cyberattack

The Homeland Security Department, working with other federal agencies, has completed a draft of how governments and businesses should respond to a widespread cyberattack, establishing their roles and responsibilities. The department is collecting comments from the public and business partners that it plans to consider before it tests the final plan during a large-scale cybersecurity drill in September 2010, a DHS official said on Thursday. The plan, which the Obama administration announced in June, includes more than 150 participants from federal, state and local governments, as well as from industry and organizations that run the nation's critical infrastructures such as transportation and banking, said Michael Brown, deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at DHS. He spoke at the AFCEA Solutions cybersecurity conference.