Cybersecurity Plan to Involve NSA, Telecoms

DHS Officials Debating The Privacy Implications

By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 3, 2009

The Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T as the likely test site, according to three current and former government officials.

President Obama said in May that government efforts to protect computer systems from attack would not involve "monitoring private-sector networks or Internet traffic," and Department of Homeland Security officials say the new program will scrutinize only data going to or from government systems.