US fights cybercrime from suburban office parks
Source: MARTHA MENDOZA
A specialist works at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) in Arlington, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014. Ground zero in the nation’s fight against cybercrime hides in plain sight, in a nondescript suburban office building with no government seals or signs. Only after passing a low-key receptionist stationed on the seventh floor does one see the metal detectors, personal cellphone lockers and a series of heavy doors marked “classified” _ all leading to the auditorium-sized National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center. Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta
Ground zero in the nation's fight against cybercrime hides in plain sight, in a nondescript suburban office building with no government seals or signs.
Only after passing a low-key receptionist stationed on the seventh floor does one see the metal detectors, personal cellphone lockers and a series of heavy doors marked "classified" ― all leading to the auditorium-sized National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.
Inside, around-the-clock, close to 100 specialists monitor floor-to-ceiling maps of the U.S. and world, along with streams of data and breaking news. States are color-coded from green to red, for a low threat of attack to severe.
"This is where we put out the fires," says Phyllis Schneck, chief cybersecurity official for the Department of Homeland Security, nodding at an image of a rotating globe on a monitor the size of a movie screen.
This fall, The Associated Press paid rare visits to two key civilian and military cybersecurity centers, a secret lab and a 24/7 incident-response venue where the government's computer scientists work to combat an increasing bombardment by thieves, hostile states and hacktivists.
Cyberattack now eclipses terrorism as the biggest threat to national security, according to U.S. intelligence chiefs. And an AP report published this week found the $10 billion-a-year federal effort to protect the nation online is failing to keep up with attackers who tap into .gov and .mil networks from coffee shops down the street or military bases on the other side of the world.
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