The truth is that most of what goes on inside Infragard is reports and whitepapers that are meant to help in infrastructure protection. You might get an agricultural report talking about the newest threat (man-made or biologic) or a report meant for emergency responders detailing how responders have been attacked in the US or world.

That’s about it, It’s meant as a clearinghouse to help protect our critical infrastructure, not as a rat out your neighbor website.

Today, I was at the NJ chapter meeting. A vendor presentation on its Internet monitoring service for corporates and an FBI fellow talking about the cost of identity theft fraud and what people can do to lessen the risks.

No prompts for dropping the dime on my friends, neighbours, etc. The main info requests I hear are for coporations to report to the authorities computer break-ins and other crimes.

Meanwhile, attending the meetings gives a chance for the public to see a bit about the FBI and other agencies.

Look up a local chapter meeting on the links this blog gave — many meetings are open to the public — and go have a look.

CERT comes in to play when there is a clear and present danger that nobody can dispute, all of the activities are in group session, puts civilians more into the thick of things to increase transparency, and the goal is to minimize casualties. This one creeps me the hell out – sounds much more individualized, focuses on the maybe-threats, allows you to snitch on people with extra secure communications…

“Mother should I trust the government?” Not if the nosy, gossipy neighbor has a legit conduit to the feds to report anything that looks a little suspicious from her back window. Plus the name strikes me as just a little Orwellian.