A New Initiative:

As part of its mission, the NIPC (National Infrastructure Protection Center) conducts outreach and information sharing with the public and private-sector owners and operators of critical infrastructures. The InfraGard program is now an essential part of the NIPC's nationwide outreach efforts. The program establishes a mechanism for two-way information sharing about intrusion incidents and system vulnerabilities and provides a channel for the NIPC to disseminate analytical threat products to the private sector.

Established in February 1998, the NIPC's mission is to serve as the U.S. government's focal point for threat assessment, warning, investigation, and response for threats or attacks against our critical infrastructures. These infrastructures, which include telecommunications, energy, banking and finance, water systems, government operations, and emergency services, are the foundation upon which our industrialized society is based.

Program Objectives:

The InfraGard program is designed to address the need for a private and public-sector information sharing mechanism at both national and local levels. Its objectives are as follows:

• Provide members a forum for education and training on infrastructure vulnerabilities and protection measures

• Provide members prompt, value-added threat advisories, alerts, and warnings

• Ensure the protection of computer intrusion/threat data shared among InfraGard members, FBI field offices, and the NIPC through compliance with proprietary, legal, and security requirements

• Increase the quantity and quality of infrastructure intrusion/threat reports provided to local FBI field offices (for investigation and follow-up) and the NIPC (for national-level analysis)

• Increase interaction and information sharing among InfraGard members, their associated local FBI field offices, and the NIPC, on infrastructure threats, vulnerabilities, and interdependencies.

Questions:

If you would like additional information about the National Infrastructure Protection Center, please inquire via e-mail at nipc@fbi.gov or the local InfraGard Program, please inquire via e-mail at info@ncinfragard.org.