Information Technology (IT) plays an integral role in the programs and operations of the Department of Energy. In Fiscal Year 2001, the Department budgeted $1.4 billion for the acquisition and maintenance of IT related resources, a portion of which supports the Advanced Strategic Computing Initiative. These resources, and the programs they support, are vulnerable to malicious software, viruses, trojans, worms (collectively referred to as viruses), and cyber security attacks. To effectively protect its IT resources, the Department must ensure that its virus protection and detection capabilities as well as its cyber security incident reporting practices are "state of the art."
