SECURITY LEGISLATION - Homeland Defense: New Rules of War after 9/11
Tue, January 15, 2002
CIO — The war against terrorism is forcing government and business to forge new alliances. Federal government actions since Sept. 11, including legislation enacted by Congress and policies issued by the White House, aim to broaden cooperation between the private sector and law enforcement officials charged with counter-terrorism efforts. Those actions include new ways companies can work with government using IT to thwart conventional attacks, and there are more to come. Every week brings new government proposals to get companies more involved in homeland defense.
Those new policies are al-ready reshaping the CIO’s job in many companies. Technology executives have been called on to install systems to help officials find terrorists, share more information about the weaknesses of their own IT infrastructures and help their CEOs advise the government on how to protect the nation from attacks on critical industries such as utilities and financial services. To help CIOs tackle these assignments more effectively, certain policies are promoting new technologies for both information and physical security, as well as giving companies tax breaks for upgrading network security.
CIOs are in the best position to help determine how these emerging rules of engagement will affect the way their company uses IT to conduct business in an increasingly less secure world. "It’s important [that CIOs] look at the government as a partner," says Michael Vatis, a former FBI official who is now director of the Institute for Security Technology Studies at Dartmouth College. In turn, he adds, government can share information about IT security threats and vulnerabilities that might be difficult for CIOs to learn on their own.
Vatis also cautions that government policy could have "potentially negative effects" on the CIO’s job. Therefore, it’s up to CIOs to play a strategic role in shaping the rules through as many channels as possible, including corporate lobbyists and government-industry committees formed to address homeland defense. At the very least, keeping an eye on emerging laws and regulations can help CIOs plan their own cyberdefense strategies and identify opportunities to cooperate with government agencies to protect both corporate and national interests. (See "A Sorry State," Page 46, to learn how IT will help the State Department cope with post-Sept. 11 challenges.)
There are several legislative categories, all under the auspices of homeland defense, wherein policies have already been or will soon be enacted. Here is a look at what is coming and how it may affect the CIO role.
Coordinating Cyberdefense
The high-profile task of advising the government on critical infrastructure protection and information security falls on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, the corporate advisory board created in October by President Bush. This new council, which includes 30 CEOs and equivalent executives from the corporate world, academia, and state and local governments, will develop a national strategy for cybersecurity and suggest standards and best practices for putting it in place.
