Security board swept out

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0303/web-order-03-04-03.asp

By Diane Frank 
March 4, 2003

A new executive order that addresses some reorganization details for
the Homeland Security Department completely eliminates the group
responsible for overseeing the government's critical infrastructure
protection efforts.

The Feb. 28 executive order is mostly housekeeping, inserting the
Homeland Security secretary into some old orders and eliminating or
changing officials in others as functions transfer to the new
department.

But the biggest change is the complete rewrite of the Oct. 16, 2001,
executive order addressing critical infrastructure protection under
the Bush administration.

The rewrite eliminates the President's Critical Infrastructure
Protection Board, a group that brought together top officials from
every agency throughout government to address security issues.

The board also led the development of the administration's National
Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, the final version of which the White
House released last month.

The Homeland Security Department has four main directorates, and the
Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate merges
the main federal organizations involved in critical infrastructure
protection: the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, the National
Infrastructure Protection Center, the Federal Computer Incident
Response Capability, and others.

A leader has not even been nominated for that division, however, and
the groups involved are still working on a transition plan while
trying to meet their daily responsibilities.

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) issued a call
for Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to name a cybersecurity
adviser as soon as possible to replace the position that the board
held and to ensure that agencies across government are involved in
critical infrastructure protection.

"The [board], which consists of the top leadership from throughout the
federal government, reflects a fundamental fact: Cybersecurity
requires the participation of all government entities, and the
coordination facilitated by the [board] is essential," said Harris
Miller, president of ITAA.

The move also comes a month after Richard Clarke, chairman of the
board, announced he was leaving government. He led the critical
infrastructure protection efforts of the Clinton and Bush
administrations since 1998.
 
 

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