Slow response from the FBI to Saturday's outbreak of a virulent new computer worm may have been the result of the recent government reorganization creating the Department of Homeland Security and increased concerns about threats of cyberterrorism.

The FBI came under scrutiny on Monday when it appeared the agency was asleep on its feet Saturday as the W32.Slammer worm rocketed around the world, infecting hundreds of thousands of systems within the first few hours of surfacing.

The FBI's cyberthreat arm, the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), stayed silent for much of Saturday as prominent antivirus companies such as Internet Security Systems (ISS) and Network Associates's McAfee AVERT (Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team) division issued alerts about the spread of the Slammer worm.

Reporters who called the agency asking for comment during that time were told only that the NIPC was "monitoring the situation," but official statements were not forthcoming.

It was not until 1:41 p.m. EST (6:41 p.m. GMT) on Saturday, more than 13 hours after the initial appearance of Slammer, that the NIPC issued its first advisory on the worm, entitled "Worm Targets SQL Vulnerability," on its Web page. By that time, many organizations had already identified the threat and taken steps to stop its spread.

In an Internet webcast hosted by the nonprofit SANS Institute that featured security experts and representatives from the federal government and Microsoft, Marcus Sachs, director for communication infrastructure protection at the White House Office of Cyberspace Security said that a combination of bad timing and the recent folding of the NIPC and other government cybersecurity departments into the new Department of Homeland Security may have played a role in the agency's lackluster response to the Slammer outbreak.

"The worm couldn't have come at a better time," Sachs joked.

The inauguration of the new Department was celebrated on Friday. In addition, NIPC staff were coordinating with other federal computer security personnel on what was described as an issue stemming from tensions with Iraq.

As a result, most of the NIPC researchers were home when Slammer broke and the agency had trouble getting "the right personnel" to respond to the Slammer outbreak, Sachs said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.