Growth Industry

ata networks have mushroomed in recent years, so too has the federal bureaucracy that manages security for those networks. The catalyst for much of the growth was the 1997 report from the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, which called for a national effort to assure security for the United States' increasingly vulnerable and interconnected data networks.

Last May, President Clinton directed every department and agency to appoint a chief infrastructure assurance officer, responsible for establishing security procedures and conducting vulnerability assessments within the agency. In addition, agencies must designate key officials to work with the private sector to coordinate measures to protect telecommunications, electric power, transportation, banking and finance, and other critical operations in their purview.

Among the new federal offices created to improve network security are:

• National Infrastructure Protection Center.
  This FBI office, directed by Michael Vatis, will integrate personnel from the Justice, Defense, Energy and Transportation departments and the intelligence community to form a coordinated response to network intrusions, mitigate attacks, investigate threats and monitor recovery efforts.
• Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office.
  This Commerce Department office, directed by Jeffrey Hunker, must coordinate a national education and awareness program and create an integrated national plan to protect the nation's vital systems: telecommunications, transportation, energy, banking and finance, medical, water and government.
• Joint Task Force for Computer Network Defense.
  This interim office, directed by Air Force Maj. Gen. John Campbell, will coordinate Defense Department actions with other federal agencies and the private sector. It does not now have authority over the military's unified commands, but such authority would likely be vested in its permanent replacement organization in the future.

  Agency officials say it's too soon to gauge the effectiveness of recent efforts to better coordinate the federal response to network security threats. Says one Defense official: "There's a lot of activity on this, no question about that. But once the smoke clears, we probably won't know how effective we've really been until we're faced with a
  serious attack."