The Bush administration is quietly assembling an Internet-wide monitoring center to detect and respond to attacks on vital information systems and key e-commerce sites. The center, which has been in development for the past 15 months, is a key piece of the White House’s national cybersecurity strategy and represents a major leap in the federal government’s effort to achieve real-time tracking of the Internet’s health. The “Global Early Warning Information System,” (GEWIS, pronounced “gee-whiz”) is being built by the National Communications System (NCS), a Defense agency established in 1962 to ensure that the government has access to adequate communications systems during national emergencies. Full Story