Could what happened to New Orleans happen to the Internet? If we were expecting U.S. DHS to prevent it, apparently so:

While the Homeland Security Department has been charged with coordinating cyberspace security and recovery, GAO found that the initiatives so far lack authority, and the relationship between the initiatives is unclear.

David Powner, GAO’s director of information technology management issues, told a Senate subcommittee during a hearing timed to coincide with the release of the report that it is unclear what government entity is in charge, what the government’s role should be and when it should jump in. “Despite federal policy requiring DHS to develop this public-private plan, today no such plan exists,” Powner said.

Report: U.S. unprepared for major Web disruption, By Heather Greenfield, National Journal’s Technology Daily 28 July 2006

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