Homeland department likely to house cybersecurity office

The White House Office of Cyberspace Security would "change a bit" under a proposal to create a Homeland Security Department but would retain its basic functions, the senior director of that office said Thursday.

Paul Kurtz said that the position of Cybersecurity Director Richard Clarke "would likely remain the same" and that Clarke would continue to report to the National Security Council (NSC), headed by Condoleezza Rice, and to the new department head. He spoke on a panel at the TechNet International conference of the Association for Communications, Electronics, Intelligence and Information Systems Professionals.

Clarke currently reports to the council and the White House Homeland Security Office as chairman of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Board. The position of Vice Chairman Howard Schmidt also likely would remain, Kurtz said. He said the board membership might change as portions of agencies are moved, but "we will have a coordinating mechanism on cybersecurity."

The board coordinates across government agencies on the protection of critical infrastructures, including information infrastructure, which Kurtz called the nation's "bloodline." The board includes representation from agencies involved in research and development, law enforcement, and incident coordination and crisis response.

Kurtz also said his office would complete work in mid-July on a national strategy for homeland security being developed by Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, and he added that the plan probably would be released in early fall. He emphasized that the strategy is "not going to be authored by bureaucrats" but rather involves the input of home users, the private sector and others.

A series of town-hall meetings on the subject is being held. Clarke and Schmidt have visited four cities and will continue the gatherings in the coming months.

The homeland strategy will be updated frequently, he said. "We'll make mistakes," Kurtz said. "We're new at this."

Kurtz named cybersecurity priorities for the White House, including making the Internet less vulnerable to attacks ("hardening" the Internet), enhancing the security of federal systems being overseen by the White House Office of Management and Budget, improving crisis response, and coordinating education and research and development. Other priorities are increasing awareness through the Web site "staysafeonline.info," and creating a digital-controls system, advanced systems and a National Security Emergency Preparedness program.

That preparedness program was highlighted by Brenton Greene, deputy manager of the National Communications System, which advises the president, the NSC, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, OMB and the Office of Homeland Security on telecommunications functions in emergency preparedness. Greene said the 22 government agencies that are major telecom users hold regular coordination meetings on crisis communications.

Kurtz left the event to join an interagency meeting on critical infrastructure protection, at the State Department with Japanese officials. The first formal meeting with Japan on the topic included officials from the Defense, State, Transportation and Treasury departments. Similar meetings have been held with the United Kingdom, Australia, India and Singapore, he said.