WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Homeland Security officials unveiled on Wednesday a new cyber-alert system to help protect the nation from attacks on computer-based networks and to prevent any attacks elsewhere from affecting cyberspace.
The National Cyber Alert System, described in a telephone briefing, will include alerts and bulletins distributed by e-mail subscription and through a government Web site.
The Web site also provides a means to report such threats discovered by computer users and other information technology experts.
"We are moving to a more proactive stance," said Amit Yoran, director of the National Cyber Security Division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The system, he said, will be "providing periodic pieces of information to better secure systems and address known vulnerabilities before they fall victim to various types of cyber attack."
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Criteria for such a warning include the visibility of the threat, how actively it is being exploited, the risk to national security, and the risk it presents to other critical infrastructure.
The cyber-alert system will not include color-coded levels of threat, as is done with the general threat level posted by the Department of Homeland Security. Yoran said the possibility of attack on cyberspace is considered one of the factors that go into the overall assessment of the nation's security.
The Web site where people can sign up for the cyber alerts is
www.us-cert.gov.
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