Cyber attack? Let the government take over!

The government is notorious for being a bunch of Luddites, the military hires contractors to do all their real IT support. So the government decides to do a cyber attack simulation, which apparently was about as technical as a bunch of people standing around talking about different scenarios. They decided that the real problem was that if (the privately owned) infrastructure we rely on was attacked, that the government wouldn't have instant access to meddle with whatever they wanted.

Hmm imagine that, an organization that pays educated people to put together and maintain a system, might not want Senator Ted Stevens (who up until recently was in charge of this sort of thing) randomly unplugging everything when he supposes your service might be the reason he can't get "Wheel of Fortune" on his TV. Let's also remember that he may have decided that the problem was with a company that has nothing to do with the issue. And even if he did get the right company, he is certain to be less qualified to make any suggestions on how to mitigate or remedy any technical issues.

I think it is a noble thought that we might be susceptible to a cyber attack and that we need to be more prepared. But giving the government control of all things technical is not the right first step. Perhaps requiring critical infrastructure to meet a set of security standards would be in everyone's best interest. If the government can pass laws requiring automakers to meet fuel efficiency standards, they can certainly pass laws requiring ISP's and hosting facilities to meet internet security standards. In fact they've already mandated that all .gov sites use DNSSEC.