A GAO report released Tuesday said the Department...

A GAO report released Tuesday said the Department of Homeland Security should collaborate with the emergency services sector to address the cybersecurity implications of Internet-related technologies, in a revised version of the sector’s Sector-Specific Plan. DHS, along with the FCC and the departments of Commerce, Justice and Transportation, coordinated cybersecurity-related activities with state and local governments, but that coordination had not focused on the cybersecurity of public safety entities involved in 911 calls, the report said. DHS efforts to work with emergency services did not address Internet-based information technologies, such as next-generation 911, the GAO said. Those technologies were not included because updates to the emergency services sector-specific plan weren’t set to begin until after DHS released a revised version of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan in December, the GAO said. DHS plans to complete the emergency services sector plan by December. Until that plan is completed, “information systems are at an increased risk of failure or being unavailable at critical moments,” the GAO said (http://1.usa.gov/1evFtY7).