Federal Computer Incident Response Center

The Federal Computer Incident Response Center (FedCIRC) is the focal point for dealing with computer-related incidents affecting federal civilian agencies. Originally established in 1996 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the center has been administered by the General Services Administration since October 1998. F edCIRC’s primary purposes are to provide a means for federal civilian agencies to work together to handle security incidents, share related information, and solve common security problems. In this regard, FedCIRC: In accomplishing these efforts, FedCIRC draws on expertise from the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, academia, and federal civilian agencies. In addition, FedCIRC collaborates with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Infrastructure Protection Center in planning for and dealing with criminal activities that pose a threat to the critical information infrastructure.
 * provides federal civilian agencies with technical information, tools, methods, assistance, and guidance;
 * provides coordination and analytical support;
 * encourages development of quality security products and services through collaborative relationships with federal agencies, academia, and private industry;
 * promotes incident response and handling procedural awareness within the federal government;
 * fosters cooperation among federal agencies for effectively preventing, detecting, handling, and recovering from computer security incidents;
 * communicates alert and advisory information regarding potential threats and emerging incident situations; and
 * augments the incident response capabilities of federal agencies.