When you are afraid that you might get mugged on a particular dark street, what do you do? Easy, don’t walk on that particular street. A recent research by Consumer Reports WebWatch shows that US Internet users are cutting down on their time online due to increased threats (or publicity) of identity and personal information threats.

According to the WebWatch report, released Wednesday, 80 percent of all
American Web surfers are at least somewhat concerned about the threat
of identity theft posed by engaging in online activities.

As a result of those concerns, at least 30 percent of the
1,500 people interviewed for the survey said they have reduced the
amount of time they access the Internet.

Is this a success or failure of the cybersecurity system? One of the goals is to educate the population that the Internet is dangerous and people should be careful what information they disclose online. According to this factor, the survey shows that efforts are paying off - people are at least more aware of the threats. On the other hand, the fact that people spend less time online due to their fears shows that other measures of preventing cybercrimes are not efficient. Which is it?

[Full report]

Are cyberterrorists going to wait until after February? The Department of Homeland Security would hope so. In an announcement this week, DHS has postponed the National Cybersecurity Simulation on hold until after February.

"While this exercise will be an important test of our readiness to
respond to and mitigate a significant cyberattack, our first priority
as a department is responding to real world events," spokesman Kirk
Whitworth said in an e-mail to CNET News.com. "As a result of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many of the department’s resources, as
well as those of the private sector which would have been involved in
the Cyberstorm exercise, were reallocated to deal with the disasters in
the Gulf."

The National Cybersecurity Simulation was designed to simulate a major cyberattack on the nation’s electronic infrastructure, electronic payment systems, and major providers’ backbones. The Department of Homeland Security is the government agency responsible for securing the nation’s infrastructure and although it is true that the Department’s resources are stretched now due to the recent hurricanes, it is nonetheless as good time as there could be to conduct a realistic simulation.  Hopefully the cyberterrorists would please wait.