The FBI is considering important changes to its premier cybersecurity unit, responsible for protecting the nation's most important computer networks, but indicated Wednesday it won't dismantle the unit as some in Congress and the Bush administration have feared. . . .
The FBI is considering important changes to its premier cybersecurity unit, responsible for protecting the nation's most important computer networks, but indicated Wednesday it won't dismantle the unit as some in Congress and the Bush administration have feared.

FBI Director Robert Mueller has outlined a plan on Capitol Hill in recent weeks to break up the $27 million-a-year National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), formed in February 1998 to watch over the nation's systems controlling banking, water, power, telecommunications and government, congressional and administration sources said Wednesday. They added that they expected Mueller to make a formal decision as early as next week.

The proposal affecting the unit, whose reputation has improved markedly in the past year after a string of early embarrassments, quickly raised concerns among some lawmakers, Bush administration officials and industry experts. They worried that a narrow focus by the FBI on criminal investigations into computer attacks might discourage corporations from disclosing details of threats and attacks on their private networks.

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