**GAO-08-212T**                      Published: Oct 23, 2007. Publicly Released: Oct 23, 2007.                  

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## Highlights

Since the early 1990s, growth in the use of the Internet has revolutionized the way that our nation communicates and conducts business. While the Internet originated as a U.S. government-sponsored research project, the vast majority of its infrastructure is currently owned and operated by the private sector. Federal policy recognizes the need to prepare for debilitating Internet disruptions and tasks the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with developing an integrated public/private plan for Internet recovery. GAO was asked to summarize its report on plans for recovering the Internet in case of a major disruption (GAO-06-672) and to provide an update on DHS's efforts to implement that report's recommendations. The report (1) identifies examples of major disruptions to the Internet, (2) identifies the primary laws and regulations governing recovery of the Internet in the event of a major disruption, (3) evaluates DHS plans for facilitating recovery from Internet disruptions, and (4) assesses challenges to such efforts.

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## Topics

Economic Development

Continuity of operations planCritical infrastructureCritical infrastructure protectionCyber securityDisaster planningDisaster recoveryDisaster recovery plansE-governmentEmergency preparednessFederal lawFederal legislationHomeland securityInternetIT contingency plansIT legislationPrivate sectorStrategic planningprivate partnerships