The Dept. of Homeland Security may ask Congress to reorganize its...

It’s been added to the National Cyber Security Div., with the National Communications System, for national-emergency communications, made part of the Office of Cyber Security & Telecom that Garcia runs. Replying Tues. to our question on the set-up at the Tues. Tech Policy Summit in San Jose, he said the secretary has broad power to organize the Dept.; to avoid “stovepiping,” the Dept. will align along functional lines staff members from across units, such as in the convergence of communications onto IP networks. After a year or 2, the Dept. may go to Congress about the structure, he said. In his remarks, Garcia said his priorities through 2008 are: (1) Getting govt. to “lead by example” through strong internal network security. An “interagency process” chaired by the White House and deeply involving OMB and DoD will devise “low-cost, high impact” practices for agencies, such as appointing CIOs and creating rules to integrate security considerations into procurement. (2) Implementing the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. (3) Creating a “core hub of operational people” to decide who will do what when in a major national cyber blowup. Housing US-CERT in Arlington, Va., with the Communications Industry Sector Advisory Committee and representatives of the IT ISAC starting next month is a start, Garcia said. But strong cooperation requires trust, and that requires experience working together, he said. Getting there will take time and attack exercises, Garcia said.